Backup of an industrial automation plant in the cloud

ABSTRACT

Cloud-based backup provides a back up of an industrial plant comprising an industrial automation system(s) (IAS(s)). A cloud-based backup component comprising a modeler component can generate a model of industrial assets of the IAS(s) and relationships between industrial assets based on information obtained from the industrial assets via cloud gateways, a communication device associated with the IAS(s), or another source. The cloud-based backup component can store the model in a data store to be employed as a backup of the IAS(s) or to be used to configure a new IAS that is the same as or similar to the IAS(s). The model can be stored in the data store in a standardized or an agnostic format, wherein the backup component can translate the model to a format suitable to an IAS for which it is to be implemented based on characteristics associated with the IAS.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject application relates generally to industrial automation, and,more particularly, to backing up an industrial automation plant in thecloud.

BACKGROUND

Industrial controllers and their associated input/output (I/O) devicescan be useful to the operation of modern industrial automation systems.These industrial controllers can interact with field devices on theplant floor to control automated processes relating to such objectivesas product manufacture, material handling, batch processing, supervisorycontrol, and other such applications. Industrial controllers can storeand execute user-defined control programs to effect decision-making inconnection with the controlled process. Such programs can include, butare not limited to, ladder logic, sequential function charts, functionblock diagrams, structured text, or other such programming structures.In general, industrial controllers can read input data from sensors andmetering devices that can provide discreet and telemetric data regardingone or more states of the controlled system, and can generate controloutputs based on these inputs in accordance with the user-definedprogram.

In addition to industrial controllers and their associated I/O devices,some industrial automation systems also can include low-level controlsystems, such as vision systems, barcode marking systems, variablefrequency drives, industrial robots, and the like, which can performlocal control of portions of the industrial process, or which can havetheir own localized control systems.

During operation of a given industrial automation system, comprising acollection of industrial devices, industrial processes, other industrialassets, and network-related assets, users (e.g., operators, technicians,maintenance personnel, etc.) typically can monitor or manage operationsof the industrial automation system, perform maintenance, repairs, orupgrades on the industrial automation system, or perform other tasks inconnection with operation of the industrial automation system. Theabove-described description of today's industrial control and businesssystems is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of relatingto conventional industrial automation systems, and is not intended to beexhaustive.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects described herein. This summary is not anextensive overview nor is intended to identify key/critical elements orto delineate the scope of the various aspects described herein. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented later.

Various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter relateto the use of data analysis (e.g., big data analysis) in a cloudplatform to facilitate generating a model of one or more industrialautomation systems and using the model as a backup for the one or moreindustrial automation systems, in accordance with various embodimentsand aspects of the disclosed subject matter. A backup component (e.g., acloud-based backup component) can comprise or be associated with amodeler component that can generate, update, or use a model of anindustrial automation system(s) that can correspond to the industrialautomation system(s) and its respective constituent components (e.g.,industrial devices, industrial processes, other industrial assets,network-related devices), and the respective relationships (e.g.,functional relationships, geographical relationships) between therespective constituent components based at least in part on informationobtained from the respective constituent components via cloud gatewaycomponents associated with the respective constituent components, acommunication device associated with the industrial automationsystem(s), or another source (e.g., an extrinsic data source associatedwith the cloud platform). The model can be a multi-dimensional (e.g.,three-dimensional (3-D) or two-dimensional (2-D)) model that canfacilitate presenting a multi-dimensional view (e.g., 3-D view or 2-Dview) of the industrial automation system(s). The backup component canstore the model in a data store, wherein the model can be employed, forexample, as a backup of the industrial automation system(s) or can beused to configure a new industrial automation system(s) that is the sameas or similar to the industrial automation system(s).

In some implementations, the industrial devices or network-relateddevices of an industrial automation system can be integrated with orassociated with (e.g., communicatively connected to) cloud gatewaycomponents that can facilitate communication of data (e.g.,industrial-automation-system-related data, network-related data) fromthe industrial devices or network-related devices to the cloud platform(e.g., a collection component of the cloud platform) for analysis by thebackup component or modeler component. For a given device (e.g.,industrial device, network-related device), the data can comprise apre-deployed model of the industrial device or network-related devicethat can be stored on such device, identifier information that canfacilitate identifying the type, model, manufacturer, etc., of suchdevice, information relating to relationships between such device andanother device(s), operational data associated with such device,specification information associated with such device, or otherinformation that can be used to facilitate modeling such device tofacilitate modeling the industrial automation system. With regard tolegacy devices (e.g., legacy industrial device, legacy network-relateddevice) that may not be integrated or associated with a cloud gatewaycomponent, a communication device can be employed to facilitateinventorying the respective legacy devices. The communication device cancapture (e.g., via a camera) physical information (e.g., shape, inputs,outputs, size) relating to such legacy device, identifier informationregarding such legacy device (e.g., as provided on an identifier plateon the legacy device), information relating to relationships betweensuch legacy device and another device(s), operational informationassociated with such legacy device, or other information that can beused to facilitate modeling such legacy device to facilitate modelingthe industrial automation system.

The backup component can store the model in the data store (e.g., acloud-based data store) in a standardized or an agnostic format (e.g.,coding format and/or language format), or another desired format (e.g.,a commonly used format). In some instances, it can be desired to employthe model (e.g., information of the model) to facilitate configuring orimplementing industrial assets of a target industrial automation system(e.g., a backed-up industrial automation system that is to have itsconfiguration, physical, and operational data restored, another (e.g., anew) industrial automation system that is to be configured andimplemented using all or a portion of the model of the backed-upindustrial automation system). In such instances, the backup componentcan determine the characteristics of the respective target constituentcomponents (e.g., industrial devices, industrial processes, otherindustrial assets, network-related devices) of the target industrialautomation system based at least in part on information relating to thetarget constituent components obtained from the respective targetconstituent components, industrial-asset-related information alreadycontained in the model (e.g., as stored in the cloud-based data store),other information (e.g., other industrial-asset-related information)stored in the cloud-based data store, and/or extrinsic information(e.g., other industrial-asset-related information) obtained from anotherdata source(s) (e.g., extrinsic data source(s)).

The backup component can translate the information of the model from itscurrent format to another format suitable to the target industrialautomation system for which the information of the model is to beimplemented based at least in part on the characteristics associatedwith the respective target constituent components of the targetindustrial automation system. The backup component can communicate thetranslated information of the model to the target industrial automationsystem to facilitate configuring and implementing the respective targetconstituent components of the target industrial automation system, inaccordance with the model (e.g., backed-up model of the industrialautomation system(s)).

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certainillustrative aspects are described herein in connection with thefollowing description and the annexed drawings. These aspects areindicative of various ways which can be practiced, all of which areintended to be covered herein. Other advantages and novel features maybecome apparent from the following detailed description when consideredin conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that can use ofdata analysis in a cloud platform to facilitate collectingindustrial-automation-system-related data and generating a model of oneor more industrial automation systems and using the data and/or model asa backup for the one or more industrial automation systems or for otherdesired uses, in accordance with various embodiments and aspects of thedisclosed subject matter.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an example system that can facilitateperforming an inventory of assets of an industrial automation system tofacilitate backing up and modeling the industrial automation system, inaccordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subjectmatter.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of an example system that can facilitateidentifying a user or device that is attempting to obtain an InternetProtocol (IP) address associated with an industrial automation system,in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a high-level overview of anexample industrial enterprise that can leverage cloud-based services,including industrial-plant-backup-related services, modeling services,data collection services, and data storage services, in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 5 presents a block diagram of an exemplary backup component (e.g.,cloud-based, or partially cloud-based, backup component) according tovarious implementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of an example system that can facilitatebackup of an industrial automation system and/or generation of a modelof the industrial automation system that can be representative of theindustrial automation system, and the performance of otherbackup-related services and model-related services based at least inpart collection of customer-specific industrial data by a cloud-basedbackup system or modeler system, in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram of an example hierarchical relationshipbetween these example data classes.

FIG. 8 depicts a block diagram of an example system that can beconfigured to comprise an industrial device that can act or operate as acloud proxy for other industrial devices of an industrial automationsystem to facilitate migrating industrial data to the cloud platform forclassification and analysis by a backup system and a modeler system, inaccordance with various aspects and implementations of the disclosedsubject matter.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that can employa firewall box that can serve as a cloud proxy for a set of industrialdevices to facilitate migrating industrial data to the cloud platformfor classification and analysis by a backup system and a modeler system,in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the disclosedsubject matter.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example device model accordingto various aspects and implementations of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 11 presents a block diagram of an example system that canfacilitate collection of data from devices and assets associated withrespective industrial automation systems for storage in cloud-based datastorage, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of thedisclosed subject matter.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a cloud-based system that canemploy a backup system and modeler system to facilitate performing orproviding backup-related services and model-related services associatedwith industrial automation systems, in accordance with various aspectsand embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method that canfacilitate backing up, on a cloud platform, information associated withan industrial automation system that is associated with an industrialenterprise to facilitate restoring all or a portion of the informationto the industrial automation system of all or a portion of suchinformation is lost by the industrial automation system and/orconfiguring or programming another industrial automation system, inaccordance with various implementations and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter.

FIG. 14 depicts a flow diagram of an example method that can facilitatebacking up, on a cloud platform, information associated with anindustrial automation system that is associated with an industrialenterprise to facilitate generating a model of the industrial automationsystem for use to facilitate restoring all or a portion of theinformation to the industrial automation system if all or a portion ofsuch information is lost by the industrial automation system and/orconfiguring or programming another industrial automation system, inaccordance with various implementations and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method that cantranslate information relating to an industrial asset to a format thatis compatible with the industrial asset, in accordance with variousimplementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 16 is an example computing and/or operating environment.

FIG. 17 is an example computing and/or networking environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure is now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the subjectdisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to facilitate a description thereof.

Industrial automation systems can perform various processes to producedesired products or processed materials. An industrial automation systemcan comprise various industrial devices, industrial processes, otherindustrial assets, and network-related assets (e.g., communicationnetwork devices and software). During operation of a given industrialautomation system, users, such as, for example, operators, technicians,maintenance personnel, typically can monitor or manage operations of theindustrial automation system, perform maintenance, repairs, or upgradeson the industrial automation system, or perform other tasks inconnection with operation of the industrial automation system.

To that end, presented are various systems, methods, and techniques ofthe disclosed subject matter that relate to the use of data analysis(e.g., big data analysis) in a cloud platform to facilitate generating amodel of one or more industrial automation systems and using the modelas a backup for the one or more industrial automation systems, inaccordance with various embodiments and aspects of the disclosed subjectmatter. A backup component (e.g., a cloud-based backup component) cancomprise or be associated with a modeler component that can generate amodel of industrial assets (e.g., industrial devices, industrialprocesses, or other industrial assets) of the one or more industrialautomation systems, and respective relationships between respectiveindustrial assets of the one or more industrial automation systems,based at least in part on information obtained from the industrialassets via cloud gateway components associated with the industrialassets, a communication device associated with the one or moreindustrial automation systems, or another source (e.g., an extrinsicdata source associated with the cloud platform). The backup componentcan store the model in a data store, wherein the model can be employedas a backup of the one or more industrial automation systems, or can beused to configure a new industrial automation system(s) that is the sameas or similar to the one or more industrial automation systems.

The backup component can store the model in the data store in astandardized or an agnostic format, or another desired format (e.g., acommonly used format). When the model (e.g., information of the model)is to be employed to facilitate configuring or implementing industrialassets of a target industrial automation system (e.g., a backed-upindustrial automation system that is to have its configuration,physical, and operational data restored, another (e.g., a new)industrial automation system that is to be configured and implementedusing all or a portion of the model of the backed-up industrialautomation system), the backup component can determine thecharacteristics of the respective target industrial assets of the targetindustrial automation system based at least in part on informationrelating to the target industrial assets obtained from the respectivetarget industrial assets, industrial-asset-related information alreadycontained in the model (e.g., as stored in the cloud-based data store),other information (e.g., industrial-asset-related information) stored inthe cloud-based data store, and/or information (e.g.,industrial-asset-related information) obtained from another datasource(s) (e.g., extrinsic data source(s)). The backup component cantranslate the information of the model from its current format toanother format suitable to the target industrial automation system forwhich the information of the model is to be implemented based at leastin part on the characteristics associated with the target industrialautomation system. The backup component can communicate the translatedinformation of the model to the target industrial automation system tofacilitate configuring and implementing the target industrial automationsystem, in accordance with the model (e.g., backed-up model of theindustrial automation system(s)).

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,”“platform,” “layer,” “controller,” “terminal,” “station,” “node,”“interface” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity or anentity related to, or that is part of, an operational apparatus with oneor more specific functionalities, wherein such entities can be eitherhardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or softwarein execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited tobeing, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive,multiple storage drives (of optical or magnetic storage medium)including affixed (e.g., screwed or bolted) or removably affixedsolid-state storage drives; an object; an executable; a thread ofexecution; a computer-executable program, and/or a computer. By way ofillustration, both an application running on a server and the server canbe a component. One or more components can reside within a processand/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on onecomputer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Also,components as described herein can execute from various computerreadable storage media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry which is operated by asoftware or a firmware application executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can include a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that provides at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. As further yet another example, interface(s)can include input/output (I/O) components as well as associatedprocessor, application, or application programming interface (API)components. While the foregoing examples are directed to aspects of acomponent, the exemplified aspects or features also apply to a system,platform, interface, layer, controller, terminal, and the like.

As used herein, the terms “to infer” and “inference” refer generally tothe process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system,environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured viaevents and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of newevents or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom the context, the phrase “X employs A or B” is intended to mean anyof the natural inclusive permutations. That is, the phrase “X employs Aor B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: X employs A; Xemploys B; or X employs both A and B. In addition, the articles “a” and“an” as used in this application and the appended claims shouldgenerally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwiseor clear from the context to be directed to a singular form.

Furthermore, the term “set” as employed herein excludes the empty set;e.g., the set with no elements therein. Thus, a “set” in the subjectdisclosure includes one or more elements or entities. As anillustration, a set of controllers includes one or more controllers; aset of data resources includes one or more data resources; etc.Likewise, the term “group” as utilized herein refers to a collection ofone or more entities; e.g., a group of nodes refers to one or morenodes.

Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of systems thatmay include a number of devices, components, modules, and the like. Itis to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may includeadditional devices, components, modules, etc. and/or may not include allof the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection withthe figures. A combination of these approaches also can be used.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 100 (e.g., abackup system) that can use of data analysis (e.g., big data analysis)in a cloud platform to facilitate collectingindustrial-automation-system-related data and generating a model of oneor more industrial automation systems and using the data and/or model asa backup for the one or more industrial automation systems or for otherdesired uses, in accordance with various embodiments and aspects of thedisclosed subject matter. The model (e.g., a plant model) can correspondto an industrial automation system(s) associated with an industrialenterprise based at least in part on cloud-based data relating to theindustrial enterprise. The model generated and managed by the system 100can be maintained and updated (e.g., automatically or dynamically, inreal or near real time) on the cloud platform to reflect any changes tothe industrial automation system(s) upon which the model is based tofacilitate backing up the most recent iteration of the industrialautomation system(s) to the cloud platform.

The system 100 can comprise a backup component 102 (e.g., a cloud-basedbackup component) that can obtain and backup information (e.g.,identifier information, specification information, configurationinformation, parameter information, other operational information)relating to one or more industrial automation systems, such asindustrial automation system 104 (only one industrial automation systemis depicted in FIG. 1, for brevity and clarity) for analysis and storagein the cloud platform 106, in accordance with various aspects andimplementations of the disclosed subject matter. In someimplementations, the backed-up information can be maintainedsubstantially as is on the cloud platform 106 for use to restoreinformation (e.g., operational information) relating to the industrialautomation system 104, or a portion thereof, as desired, for example,when information is lost by the industrial automation system 104, when aconstituent component of the industrial automation system 104 isreplaced, or for other desired reasons. In other implementations, theinformation relating to the industrial automation system 104 can beanalyzed to facilitate generating a model of the industrial automationsystem 104, as more fully disclosed herein, wherein the model (e.g.,information in the model), or a portion thereof, can be used to restoreinformation (e.g., operational information) relating to the industrialautomation system 104, or a portion thereof, as desired, or for otherdesired uses.

The backup component 102 can comprise a backup management component 108that can manage operations of other components of or associated with thebackup component 102, perform analysis and operations on information tofacilitate performing information-backup-related operations inconnection with the industrial automation system 104, and/or performother desired operations, as more fully disclosed herein. The backupcomponent 102 also can comprise or be associated with a modelercomponent 110 (e.g., a cloud-based modeler component) that can generate,update, or use a model 112 of an industrial automation system 104 thatcan correspond to (e.g., replicate, represent in data form) theindustrial automation system 104 and its respective constituentcomponents (e.g., industrial devices 114, industrial processes 116,other industrial assets 118, network-related devices of a networkcomponent 120), and the respective relationships (e.g., functionalrelationships, geographical relationships) between the respectiveconstituent components based at least in part on information (e.g.,industrial-automation-system-related data) obtained from the respectiveconstituent components via cloud gateway components (not shown inFIG. 1) associated with the respective constituent components, acommunication device 122 associated with the industrial automationsystem 104, or another source (e.g., an extrinsic data source associatedwith the cloud platform 106), in accordance with defined modelingcriteria. The modeler component 110 can generate the model 112 (e.g.,plant model) of the industrial automation system(s) 104 of theindustrial facility (e.g., industrial plant) such that the model 112 canencode identities of all industrial automation systems in the plant,configuration information and programming information for all industrialautomation systems and their constituent components (e.g., industrialdevices 114, industrial processes 116, other industrial assets 118,network-related devices of the network component 120), designinformation for machine components (e.g., industrial devices 114), andother industrial-automation-system-related information. Once the model112 is created, the backup component 102 can use the model 112 as a hotplant backup that can be downloaded to industrial assets and devices(e.g., 114, 116, 118, 120) of the industrial automation system 104 onthe plant floor to restore missing (e.g., lost) asset or deviceconfigurations and programs.

The model 112 (e.g., plant backup) or other backup informationassociated with the industrial automation system 104 also can be used tostandardize plant configurations across different industrial facilities.For instance, the backup component 102 can download the model 112 orother backup information associated with the industrial automationsystem 104 to another industrial automation system (e.g., one that isthe same as or similar to industrial automation system 104) in anotherindustrial facility to facilitate configuring, programming, settingparameters of, etc., the constituent components of the other industrialautomation system using backup information (e.g., model 112, otherbackup information) that represents a configuration of an industrialautomation system that is known to operate correctly or at leastacceptably, in accordance with defined backup criteria. The hot plantbackup (e.g., model 112 or other backup information) stored on the cloudplatform 106 (e.g., in the data store 124) can thereby reduce oreliminate troubleshooting that otherwise would typically be involvedwith new industrial-facility startups, and can ensure desiredstandardization across multiple industrial facilities.

The model 112 can be a multi-dimensional (e.g., three-dimensional (3-D)or two-dimensional (2-D)) model that can facilitate presenting amulti-dimensional view (e.g., 3-D view or 2-D view) of the industrialautomation system 104. The backup component 102 can store the model 112in a data store 124 (e.g., cloud-based data store of or associated withthe backup component 102), wherein the model 112 can be employed, forexample, as a backup of the industrial automation system 104, or portionthereof, or can be used to configure a new industrial automationsystem(s), or portion thereof, that is the same as or similar to theindustrial automation system 104.

The backup component 102 and modeler component 110 can employ andprovide a variety of services (e.g., cloud-based services) includingcloud-based backup-related services and model generation services. Aspart of providing a cloud-based model generation service, the modelercomponent 110 can perform data analysis (e.g., big data analysis) in thecloud platform 106 to facilitate generating the model 112 of theindustrial automation system 104, wherein the model 112 can be used tofacilitate interacting with (e.g., backing up, restoring orreconfiguring, remotely monitoring operation of, tracking operation of,controlling operation of, troubleshooting problems with, providingassistance relating to, etc., via, for example, a communication device(e.g., 122)) the industrial automation system 104.

As more fully disclosed herein, the backup component 102 and modelercomponent 110, as part of providing the cloud-based services, can employa collection component 126 (e.g., data collection component) that cancollect industrial-automation-system-related data from one or moreindustrial automation systems (e.g., 104) of one or more industrialcustomers (e.g., industrial enterprises) for storage (e.g., in acloud-based data store 124) and analysis (e.g., by the backup component102 or modeler component 110) on the cloud platform 106. The collectioncomponent 126 can be associated with (e.g., interfaced with and/orcommunicatively connected to) the industrial automation system 104associated with an industrial enterprise.

The industrial automation system 104 can comprise one or more industrialdevices 114, industrial processes 116, or other industrial assets 118that can be distributed throughout an industrial facility(ies) inaccordance with a desired industrial-automation-system configuration.The industrial automation system 104 can perform industrial processes orother actions to facilitate producing desired products, processedmaterials, etc., as an output.

The industrial automation system 104 also can include a networkcomponent 120 that can be associated with (e.g., integrated with,interfaced with, and/or communicatively connected to) the variousindustrial devices 114, industrial processes 116, and/or otherindustrial assets 118 of the industrial automation system 104 tofacilitate communication of information (e.g., command or controlinformation, status information, production information, etc.) betweenthe various industrial devices 114, industrial processes 116, and/orother industrial assets 118 via the network component 120, and/orfacilitate communication of information between the various constituentcomponents (e.g., industrial devices 114, industrial processes 116,other industrial assets 118, network component 120) and a user(s) (e.g.,plant personnel), for example, via the communication device 122 andnetwork component 120. The network component 120, and/or all or aportion of the industrial devices 114 or other industrial assets 118,can be associated with (e.g., interfaced with, communicatively connectedto) the collection component 126 to facilitate the communication of databetween the industrial automation system 104 and the collectioncomponent 126. The network component 120 can comprise network-relateddevices (e.g., communication devices, routers (e.g., wireline orwireless routers), switches, etc.), wherein respective network-relateddevices can be connected to or interfaced with certain othernetwork-related devices to form a communication network having a desiredcommunication network configuration. In some implementations, one ormore network-related devices of the network component 120 can beconnected to or interfaced with one or more industrial devices 114,industrial processes 116, and/or other industrial assets 118 tofacilitate collecting data (e.g., industrial-automation-system-relateddata) from the one or more industrial devices 114, industrial processes116, and/or other industrial assets 118 or communicating information(e.g., control signals, parameter data, configuration data, etc.) to theone or more industrial devices 114, industrial processes 116, and/orother industrial assets 118.

The backup component 102 and/or modeler component 110 can monitor ortrack the operation of the industrial automation system 104, includingmonitoring and tracking the respective operations of respectiveindustrial devices 114, industrial processes 116, industrial assets 118,and/or network-related devices of the network component 120, andmonitoring and tracking the configuration of the industrial automationsystem 104. The collection component 126 can receive, obtain, detect, orcollect data relating to the operation and configuration of theindustrial automation system 104, as desired (e.g., automatically,dynamically, or continuously, in real or near real time), in accordancewith defined backup criteria and/or defined modeling criteria. Forexample, the collection component 126 can receive data relating to theindustrial devices 114 (e.g., operation, status, or configurations ofthe industrial devices, properties or characteristics of the industrialdevices, maintenance records of the industrial devices, etc.),industrial processes 116 (e.g., operation, status, or configurations ofthe industrial processes, properties or characteristics of theindustrial processes, maintenance records associated with the industrialprocesses, etc.), and the other industrial assets 118 (e.g., operation,status, or configurations of the industrial assets, properties orcharacteristics of the industrial assets, maintenance records associatedwith the industrial assets, etc.). The collection component 126 also canreceive or collect data relating to operation of the sub-components(e.g., network-related devices) of the network component 120 (e.g.,operation or status of the network devices or assets, communicationconditions associated with a communication channel, total bandwidth of acommunication channel, available bandwidth of a communication channel,properties or characteristics of the network devices or assets,maintenance records associated with the network devices or assets,configurations of the network devices or assets, etc.).

The data store 124 can be associated with (e.g., interfaced with,communicatively connected to) the collection component 126 and the othercomponents of or associated with the backup component 102. Thecollection component 126 can provide (e.g., communicate, write, etc.)the data received or collected from the industrial automation system 104and the network component 120, or from other sources (e.g., anotherindustrial automation system(s), another type of extrinsic datasource(s)), to the data store 124 for storage in the data store 124,and/or to the backup component 102 or modeler component 110 for dataanalysis.

The backup component 102 (e.g., via the backup management component 108)can store the received or collected data (e.g., backup information),and/or the model 112 based in part on the data, in the data store 124 ina standardized (e.g., generalized) or an agnostic format (e.g.,standardized or agnostic coding format or language format), or anotherdesired format (e.g., a commonly used format). For instance, the backupmanagement component 108 can analyze and process the received orcollected data, and/or the model 112, can determine a data conversion(s)to employ to convert the data or model 112 to the standardized, agnostic(e.g., a controller-agnostic format), or other desired format, and canconvert the data or model 112 to the standardized, agnostic, or other(e.g., commonly used) desired format, wherein the data or model 112 inthe standardized, agnostic, or other desired format can be stored in thedata store 124. As an example, the data can comprise a control programthat can be used by a controller of the industrial automation system104, and the backup management component 108 can convert or generalizethe control program to the standardized, agnostic, or other desiredformat on the cloud platform 106 (e.g., in the data store 124), wherein,at a desired time or with regard to a desired event or condition (e.g.,restoring lost data to the controller or configuring another similarcontroller), the backup management component 108 can convert the controlprogram from the standardized, agnostic, or other desired format to aformat that is suitable for the target controller (e.g., the controller,the other similar controller) that is to employ the control program.

The model 112 or other backup information can be converted from thestandardized, agnostic, or common format to a different format and/ordevice platform (e.g., controller platform), including a third-partyformat or device platform, that is suitable to the constituentcomponents of an industrial automation system for which the model 112 orother backup information is to be used. For instance, it can be desiredto employ the model 112 (e.g., model data of the model 112) or otherbackup information associated with the industrial automation system 104to facilitate configuring, programming, or implementing industrialassets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or other devices (e.g., network-relateddevices of the network component 120) of a target industrial automationsystem (e.g., a backed-up industrial automation system (e.g., 106) thatis to have its configuration, physical, and operational data restored,another (e.g., a new) industrial automation system that is to beconfigured and implemented using all or a portion of the model of thebacked-up industrial automation system).

In such instance when the model 112 or other backup information is to bedownloaded to an industrial automation system, the backup managementcomponent 108 can identify the target constituent components (e.g.,industrial devices (e.g., controller(s), drive(s), server(s)) of thetarget industrial automation system, determine respective relevantbackup information (e.g., relevant model data or other relevant backupinformation) for the respective constituent components, and convert(e.g., translate) the respective relevant backup information from thestandardized, agnostic, or common format to a particular format and/ordevice platform that is suitable for (e.g., that matches the targetdevice format(s) or platform(s) of) the respective target constituentcomponents of the target industrial automation system that will bereceiving the converted model data or other converted backupinformation, wherein the backup management component 108 can facilitatepushing (e.g., communicating) the backup information down to thecontroller or other industrial asset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, or 118) in theindustrial automation system (e.g., 104). For example, the backupcomponent 102 (e.g., via the backup management component 108) candetermine the characteristics of the respective target constituentcomponents (e.g., industrial devices (e.g., 114), industrial processes(e.g., 116), other industrial assets (e.g., 118), network-relateddevices) of the target industrial automation system (e.g., 104) based atleast in part on results of an analysis of information relating to thetarget constituent components obtained from the respective targetconstituent components, industrial-asset-related information alreadycontained in the model 112 (e.g., as stored in the cloud-based datastore 124), other information (e.g., other industrial-asset-relatedinformation) stored in the data store 124, and/or extrinsic information(e.g., other industrial-asset-related information) obtained from anotherdata source(s) (e.g., extrinsic data source(s)). If the backup component102 or data store 124 do not have sufficient information (e.g.,manufacturer information, identifier information, make or model number,specification information, functionality information) regarding all orsome of the target constituent components to determine thecharacteristics of those target constituent components (e.g., when thetarget industrial automation system is a new industrial automationsystem), the backup management component 108 can query the targetconstituent components or another data source (e.g., extrinsic datasource) to obtain information relating to the target constituentcomponents that can enable the backup management component 108 todetermine the characteristics of the target constituent components.

The backup component 102 (e.g., via the backup management component 108)can translate (e.g., convert) the model 112 (e.g., model data) and/orother backup information from the current format (e.g., standardized oragnostic format, common format) to another (e.g., different) formatsuitable to the target industrial automation system, or portion thereof(e.g., target constituent component(s)) for which the model 112 and/orother backup information is to be implemented based at least in part onthe characteristics associated with the respective target constituentcomponents of the target industrial automation system. The backupcomponent 102 can communicate the translated information and/ortranslated model to the target industrial automation system tofacilitate configuring, programming, and/or otherwise implementing therespective target constituent components of the target industrialautomation system, in accordance with the model (e.g., backed-up model112 of the industrial automation system(s) 104) or other backupinformation. Thus, the system 100, by employing the backup component102, can enforce the standardization of plant functions and featuresacross different production lines and industrial facilities, even if therespective lines or respective facilities use different industrialassets (e.g., industrial devices, other industrial assets) fromdifferent equipment models or vendors.

For industries that require validation, for example, by outsideentities, before a new industrial facility or production line is allowedto operate, the model 112 (e.g., plant model) or other backupinformation associated with (e.g., corresponding to) the industrialautomation system 104 can be previously validated and/or approved, e.g.,by an outside entity. This can reduce startup times for the newindustrial facility or production line by allowing customers (e.g., viathe respective constituent components in the new facility or line, or acommunication device associated therewith) to download the model 112 orother backup information to the new industrial facility or productionline from the cloud platform 106 via the backup component 102, since themodel 112 or other backup information was previously validated and/orapproved. This can thereby eliminate or virtually eliminate the need tohave a new industrial facility or production line validated.

In some implementations, the backup component 102 and/or modelercomponent 110 can provide various cloud-based product modeling servicesand product model management services. For instance, the modelercomponent 110 can generate product models (e.g., a model of orcomprising code) of products or machine components based at least inpart on an analysis of information relating to the products or machinecomponents. The product models generated by the modeler component 110can comprise, for example, code (e.g., executable code), product designor specification information, or other relevant information, that can beused to produce (e.g., generate) or reproduce the products or machinecomponents. The product models can be stored on the cloud platform 106,for example, in the data store 124, and the backup component 102 canmanage and maintain the product models on the cloud platform 106.

The backup management component 108 can allow an authorized entity(e.g., using a communication device 122) to download a product modelfrom the cloud platform 106 (e.g., the data store 124 of the cloudplatform 106) to a product generator component (e.g., a 3-D printer) tofacilitate the manufacture of the product or machine componentrepresented by the product model, based at least in part on the productmodel (e.g., code or other information of or modeled by the productmodel). An owner or manager of a product model stored on the cloudplatform 106 can lease or otherwise control access to the product model(e.g., as controlled by the backup management component 108) to or bycustomers. In other implementations, the backup component 102 canprovide customers the means for generating their own product models ofproducts or machine components for their internal use, for example, torun their production lines or to distribute desired product designs(e.g., via the product models) to supplier facilities, so the supplierfacilities can produce the products or machine components based on theproduct models.

With further regard to the modeler component 110 and other aspects ofthe disclosed subject matter, the modeler component 110 can comprise amodel management component 128 that can manage and generate a model(s)112 (e.g., an interactive model(s)) of one or more industrial automationsystems 104 (e.g., of an industrial plant environment(s)). In someimplementations, the model management component 128 can facilitateproviding cloud-based services (e.g., backup-related services, modelingservices, product modeling or management services, troubleshootingservices, optimization services, remote viewing or controlling services,and/or other cloud-based services) to users and an industrial automationsystem(s) 104. Users (e.g., operators, technicians, maintenancepersonnel, supervisors, information technology (IT) personnel, or otherplant personnel) can interact with a model 112, or a virtualizedindustrial automation system generated based on the model 112, of anindustrial automation system(s) 104 to perform various work tasks,functions, and/or operations, etc. For instance, a user can interactwith the model 112 or the corresponding virtualized industrialautomation system to facilitate restoring functionality to an industrialautomation system 104 (e.g., that has lost operational data),implementing features (e.g., configuration features, parameter settings,functional features, other operational features) of the industrialautomation system 104 in another (e.g., same or similar) industrialautomation system, remote viewing of, interaction with, troubleshootingof problems with, controlling operation of, and/or optimization ofindustrial assets (e.g., industrial devices 114, industrial processes116, other assets 118) or the network component 120 of the industrialautomation system 104.

The industrial assets (e.g., industrial devices 114, industrialprocesses 116, other industrial assets 118) and network-related devicesof the network component 120 of an industrial automation system(s) 104can be equipped with or associated with components, tools, functions,etc., that can allow the backup management component 108 or modelmanagement component 128 to inventory such industrial assets (e.g., 114,116, 118) and network-related devices from the cloud platform 106 andgenerate the model 112 of the industrial automation system(s) 104 basedat least in part on such inventory. The backup management component 108or model management component 128 can poll (e.g., request informationfrom) industrial assets, such as industrial devices 114, industrialprocesses 116, or other industrial assets 118, and/or network-relateddevices of the network component 120 via cloud gateway components (notshown in FIG. 1) to facilitate obtaining information regarding theindustrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-related devices ofthe network component 120 from the industrial assets (e.g., 114, 116,118) or network-related devices for backup (e.g., by the backupcomponent 102), analysis (e.g., by the backup component 102 or modelercomponent 110), and storage (e.g., in the data store 124) on the cloudplatform 106. For example, an industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116, 118)and/or a network-related device of the network component 120 cancomprise (e.g., be integrated with) or be associated with a cloudgateway component that can enable the industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116,118) and/or network-related device to communicate with the backupcomponent 102 or modeler component 110 in the cloud platform 106 tofacilitate enabling the backup management component 108 or modelmanagement component 128 discovering, obtaining information from, and/ormodeling the industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116, 118) and/ornetwork-related device of the network component 120. The information cancomprise, for example, identification information (e.g., identifiers)that can identify an industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116, 118) ornetwork-related device, type, make, or model information (e.g., make ormodel number) of the industrial asset or network-related device,manufacturer information indicating the manufacturer of the industrialasset or network-related device, specification information for theindustrial asset or network-related device, configuration informationthat can identify a configuration of an industrial asset ornetwork-related device, contextual information relating to an industrialasset or network-related device, information relating functional orgeographical relationships between respective industrial assets orbetween an industrial asset and a network-related device of the networkcomponent 120, information relating to a layout (e.g., functionallayout, logic layout, geographical layout) of an industrial automationsystem 104, communication network connections, or other information.

In some implementations, an industrial automation system 104 can containlegacy industrial assets (e.g., legacy industrial devices or otherlegacy industrial assets) or legacy network-related components that donot comprise or are not directly associated with a cloud gatewaycomponent. A communication device 122 (e.g., a handheld communicationdevice), such as a computer (e.g., a laptop computer), a mobile phone(e.g., a smart phone or other type of cellular phone), an electronictablet, electronic eyeglasses (e.g., electronic eyeglasses (e.g., smartglasses) with computing and communication functionality), or other typeof communication device, can be employed to facilitate inventorying andcollecting information relating to such legacy industrial assets orlegacy network-related components. The communication device 122 cancomprise a camera that can be used to take one or more pictures oflegacy industrial assets, legacy network-related components, otherindustrial assets or network-related components in proximity to thelegacy industrial assets or legacy network-related components, and/or anarea of the plant in proximity to a legacy industrial asset or legacynetwork-related component. For instance, the communication device 122can take a picture of nameplate or other identifier information on alegacy industrial asset or legacy network-related component tofacilitate identifying the legacy industrial asset or legacynetwork-related component. The communication device 122 can comprise arecognizer component (not shown in FIG. 1) that can recognize (e.g.using pattern or optical character recognition (OCR) recognition) oridentify the legacy industrial asset or legacy network-related componentbased at least in part on information obtained via the photograph.Information relating to legacy industrial assets or legacynetwork-related components also can be input to the communication device122 by a user via a keyboard, keypad, or audio interface (e.g., amicrophone that receives information from the user via the user'svoice).

The communication device 122 can interface with the cloud platform 106(e.g., via a wireline or wireless communication connection), includingwith the backup component 102 or modeler component 110, to communicate(e.g., migrate) the information relating to legacy industrial assets orlegacy network-related components to the backup component 102 or modelercomponent 110. The collection component 126 can collect the informationrelating to the legacy industrial assets or legacy network-relatedcomponents, and can facilitate storing this information in the datastore 124.

The model management component 128 can model the industrial automationsystem 104, including modeling industrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118),legacy industrial assets, network-related components (e.g., of thenetwork component 120), and/or legacy network-related components, basedat least in part on the respective information obtained from theindustrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118), network component 120, and/orcommunication device 122, to generate the interactive model 112 (e.g., adata-rich interactive model) of the industrial automation system 104. Tofacilitate generating a model 112 that can correspond to and beassociated with (e.g., can interact or be interfaced with) theindustrial automation system 104, the model management component 128 canaccess the data store 124 (e.g., cloud-based data store) to obtain a setof data relating to the industrial automation system 104 and/or anotherindustrial automation system (e.g., another system comprising anindustrial device(s), process(es), and/or asset(s) that can be the sameor similar to an industrial device(s) 114, process(es) 116, and/orasset(s) 118 of the industrial automation system 104). The set of datacan comprise information relating to, for example, the respectiveproperties, characteristics, functions, configurations, etc., ofrespective industrial devices 114, industrial processes 116, otherindustrial assets 118, or network-related devices of the networkcomponent 120; or the configuration of industrial devices 114,industrial processes 116, and/or other industrial assets 118 in relationto each other. For example, the properties or characteristics forindustrial devices 114 or industrial processes 116 can comprisemechanical or process properties or characteristics associated withindustrial devices or processes (e.g., mechanical latency, process cycletimes, operating schedules, etc., associated with industrial devices).As another example, the properties or characteristics fornetwork-related devices can comprise communication properties orcharacteristics (e.g., wireless and/or wireline communicationfunctionality, type(s) of network or communication protocol(s), networkor communication specifications, total bandwidth, etc.) of therespective network-related devices.

The set of data also can comprise information relating to, for example,the configuration of the network-related devices in relation to eachother, or the configuration of network-related devices in relation tothe industrial devices 114, industrial processes 116, and/or otherindustrial assets 118; software, firmware, and/or operating systemutilized by the industrial automation system 104 (e.g., type(s),version(s), revision(s), configuration(s), etc., of the software,firmware, and/or operating system); functional and communicativerelationships between industrial devices 114, industrial processes 116,industrial assets 118, network-related devices of the network component120, etc. (e.g., communication connections or conditions betweenindustrial devices, types of connections between industrial devices,communication connections between industrial devices and network-relateddevices, etc.). The set of data further can include information relatingto, for example, human behavior or interaction in connection with theindustrial automation system 104 (e.g., maintenance schedules,shift-specific or operator-specific behavior or interaction of operatorswith the industrial automation system); production or process flows ofthe industrial automation system 104 at particular times or inconnection with particular projects; and/or other aspects or features ofthe industrial automation system 104.

The model management component 128 can analyze the set of data and cangenerate the model 112 of the industrial automation system 104 based atleast in part on the results of the analysis of the set of data. In someimplementations, the model management component 128 can generate themodel 112, which can be a multidimensional (e.g., 2-D or 3-D) model, inaccordance with an International Standardization Organization (ISO)standard(s).

The model management component 128 also can facilitate generation of amulti-dimensional (e.g., 2-D or 3-D) visualization or virtualization ofthe industrial automation system. The multi-dimensional virtualizationof the industrial automation system can be used (e.g., interacted withby a user) to facilitate using (e.g., accessing) backup-related servicesor modeling services, and/or facilitate remote viewing of, interactionwith, troubleshooting of problems with, controlling operation of,determining and/or generating optimization recommendations for, and/oroptimization of industrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or the networkcomponent 120 of the industrial automation system 104.

When there are multiple industrial plant facilities, the modelmanagement component 128 can generate a model 112 that can represent(e.g., model) the multiple industrial automation systems (e.g., 104) ofthe multiple industrial plant facilities and/or respective models (e.g.,sub-models) of the respective industrial automation systems (e.g., 104)of the respective industrial plant facilities. The model managementcomponent 128 also can facilitate the use of backup-related services ormodeling services, and/or facilitate generation of a multi-dimensionalvisualization or virtualization of the multiple industrial automationsystems (e.g., 104) that can be interacted with by users to facilitateremote viewing of, interaction with, troubleshooting of problems with,controlling operation of, determining and/or generating optimizationrecommendations for, and/or optimization of industrial assets (e.g.,114, 116, 118) of the multiple industrial automation systems (e.g.,104).

In some implementations, to facilitate the modeling of an industrialasset (e.g., industrial device 114, industrial process 116, otherindustrial asset 118) or network-related device of the network component120, the industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-relateddevice can comprise a pre-deployed model of that industrial asset (e.g.,114, 116, 118) or network-related device that the industrial asset(e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-related device can provide (e.g.,communicate) to the modeler component 110 on the cloud platform 106 viaa cloud gateway component associated with the industrial asset (e.g.,114, 116, 118) or network-related device and/or the network component120. For instance, when an industrial asset (e.g., 114 or 118) isinstalled into an industrial automation system 104, the model managementcomponent 128 can discover (e.g., automatically or dynamically detectthe presence of) the industrial asset (e.g., 114 or 118) in theindustrial automation system 104, and/or the industrial asset (e.g., 114or 118) can make its presence known (e.g., automatically or dynamicallymake its presence known by communicating presence or identificationinformation) to the model management component 128 via an associatedcloud gateway component. The industrial asset (e.g., 114 or 118) cancommunicate its pre-deployed model (e.g., information relating to thepre-deployed model) to the modeler component 110 or backup component102.

In response to receiving the model (e.g., pre-deployed model) of theindustrial asset (e.g., 114 or 118), the model management component 128can integrate or incorporate the model of the industrial asset (e.g.,114 or 118) into the model 112 of the industrial automation system 104to update the model 112 and generate a modified model 112 of theindustrial automation system 104. The model management component 128also can analyze the modified model 112 of the industrial automationsystem 104 to determine whether any modification(s) is to be made orrecommended to be made to an industrial asset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, 118)or network-related device(s) of the network component 120 to facilitateoptimizing or improving operation of the industrial automation system104 with the new industrial asset (e.g., 114 or 118). In someimplementations, the model management component 128 can communicatemodification information to an industrial asset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, 118)or network-related device(s) of the network component 120 to facilitatemodifying (e.g., automatically, dynamically) such industrial asset(s)(e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-related device(s), wherein suchindustrial asset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-related device(s)can modify or reconfigure itself based at least in part on the receivedmodification information. In other implementations, the model managementcomponent 128 can generate a recommendation that can recommend modifyingor reconfiguring such industrial asset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, 118) ornetwork-related device(s) and can present the recommendation (e.g., viaan interface, such as an human machine interface (HMI) or communicationdevice), wherein a user can review the recommendation and decide whetheror not to implement the recommendation to modify or reconfigure the suchindustrial asset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-related device(s).The modification or reconfiguration can comprise, for example, modifyinga parameter(s) of the industrial asset (e.g., industrial device 114,industrial process 116, other industrial asset 118), modifying aconnection of the industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116, 118) to anotherindustrial asset or network-related device, updating software orfirmware for an industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or anetwork-related device, generating a new load balancing scheme for theindustrial automation system 104, or other desired modification orreconfiguration of an industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116, 118) ornetwork-related device of the network component 120.

In response to any modification or reconfiguration of such industrialasset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, and/or 118) or network-related device(s) ofthe network component 120 (e.g., in response to modification informationcommunicated to (and implemented by) such industrial asset(s) ornetwork-related device(s) by the modeler component 110, or in responseto implementation of a recommendation to modify or reconfigure suchindustrial asset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, and/or 118) or network-relateddevice(s), the modeler component 110 can receive updated informationthat can reflect such modification or reconfiguration from suchindustrial asset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, and/or 118) or network-relateddevice(s) of the network component 120, and/or the communication device122. The model management component 128 can update or modify the model112 (e.g., the modified model with the model of the newly installedindustrial asset) to generate a new modified model 112 based at least inpart on the updated information to reflect the modification orreconfiguration of such industrial asset(s) (e.g., 114, 116, and/or 118)or network-related device(s).

In some implementations, the industrial asset (e.g., industrial asset(e.g., 114, 116, or 118) with an associated (e.g., integrated) cloudgateway component) not only can identify itself to the modeler component110 (e.g., via the cloud gateway component), but also can detect oridentify other industrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) ornetwork-related devices of the network component 120 near the industrialasset (e.g., 114, 116, or 118) and/or having a relationship (e.g.,functional relationship or connection, sharing a common network) withthe industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116, or 118). The industrial asset(e.g., 114, 116, or 118) can communicate information relating to thedetected or identified industrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) ornetwork-related devices that are near the industrial asset (e.g., 114,116, 118) and/or the relationships between the industrial asset (e.g.,114, 116, or 118) and the detected or identified industrial assets ornetwork-related devices to the modeler component 110. The modelmanagement component 128 can integrate or incorporate such informationinto the model 112 of the industrial automation system 104 to update ormodify the model 112 of the industrial automation system 104 to generatea modified model of the industrial automation system 104.

An industrial device 114 or a network-related device of the networkcomponent 120, or another device, also can comprise components, tools,functions, etc., that can allow users (e.g., original equipmentmanufacturers (OEMs)) who are providing a custom solution to an entity(e.g., customer) to construct (e.g., build) or design a model (e.g.,sub-model) that can correspond to their sub-system (e.g., a motorcontrol cabinet). The sub-model can be stored on one or more devices(e.g., industrial assets (e.g., controller, motor drive),network-related devices (e.g., router, transceiver)) of the sub-system.When the sub-system is installed in the industrial automation system104, the modeler component 110 can discover (e.g., automatically detect)the addition of the sub-system to the industrial automation system 104and/or the sub-system can make (e.g., automatically) its presence in theindustrial automation system 104 known to the modeler component 110 orbackup component 102.

The one or more devices (e.g., one or more industrial assets (e.g., 114,116, 118) or network-related devices) of the sub-system can communicatethe model of the sub-system (e.g., information relating to the model) tothe modeler component 110 (e.g., via the cloud gateway component). Themodel management component 128 can integrate or incorporate thesub-model of the sub-system with the other modeling information relatingto the other industrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) and components(e.g., 120) of the industrial automation system 104 to modify the model112 of the industrial automation system 104 to generate a modified model112 of the industrial automation system 104.

As part of a model of an industrial automation system 104, the modelmanagement component 128 can store configuration information forrespective industrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-relateddevices of the industrial automation system 104 in or with the model 112(e.g., in a model file of the model 112 that can be stored (e.g., backedup) in the data store 124 in the cloud). The model management component128 can, for example, store such configuration information in adevice-agnostic format and/or platform-agnostic format, or anotherdesired format (e.g., a common and convertible format) to facilitateenabling the configuration information to be used with different devices(e.g., replacement devices) and/or different platforms (e.g., used by areplacement device) in an industrial automation system 104.

In some implementations, the model management component 128 canfacilitate communicating (e.g., transferring, pushing down)configuration information for respective (e.g., various) types ofindustrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-related device of thenetwork component 120 of the industrial automation system 104 to therespective types of industrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) ornetwork-related devices to facilitate configuring the respective typesof industrial assets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-related devices.This can facilitate improved (e.g., easier) deployment of new industrialassets (e.g., 114, 116, 118), network-related devices, or systems,and/or can facilitate ensuring consistency of plant standards across theplant (e.g., comprising an industrial automation system) or multipleplants (e.g., comprising multiple industrial automation systems) and/orone or more entities (e.g., supplier entities) associated with the oneor more plants. For example, if an old industrial device 114 (e.g., oldcontroller) in a particular part of an industrial automation system 104is replaced with a new industrial device 114 (e.g., new controller) forwhatever reason, in response to discovering or being notified of the newindustrial device 114 in the industrial automation system, the modelmanagement component 128 can retrieve configuration information that waspreviously used for the old industrial device 114 from the data store124 in the cloud and can communicate desirable (e.g., suitable)configuration information to the new industrial device 114 to facilitateconfiguring (e.g., quickly configuring) the new industrial device 114 sothat the new industrial device 114 can operate desirably (e.g.,optimally, acceptably, suitably) in the industrial automation system104, wherein the desirable configuration information can be the same as,or based at least in part on, the retrieved configuration informationassociated with the old industrial device 114, depending on therespective types, models, manufacturers, and/or other features of theold industrial device 114 and new industrial device 114.

The model 112 of an industrial automation system(s) 104 generated by themodeler component 110 can be agnostic with regard to the differentvendors or platforms that can be associated with industrial assets(e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-related device of the network component120 that can be employed in the industrial automation system(s) 104.Thus, for instance, with regard to the example replacement of the oldindustrial device 114, the model management component 128 or backupcomponent 102 can, as desired (e.g., as necessary), translateconfiguration information in a first format relating to the oldindustrial device 114 (e.g., controller of a first type, of a firstmodel, and/or from a first manufacturer) to new configurationinformation in a second format relating to the new industrial device 114(e.g., controller of a second type, of a second model, and/or from asecond manufacturer), and can communicate the new configurationinformation in the second format from the cloud platform 106 to the newindustrial device 114 at the plant to facilitate configuring the newindustrial device 114 using the new configuration information in aformat (e.g., the second format) that can be usable and understood bythe new industrial device 114. That is, prior to configurationinformation for an industrial asset (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or anetwork-related device at a plant being communicated to (e.g., pusheddown to) the industrial asset or network-related device, the modelmanagement component 128 or backup management component 108 cantranslate the configuration information relating to such industrialasset or network-related device that is stored in the cloud-based datastore 124 to a format that can be compatible with the new industrialasset or network-related device to which the configuration informationis being sent. This can shorten installation time for installing a newindustrial device 114, industrial process 116, other type of industrialasset 118, network-related device of the network component 120, etc.,and can ensure that the new industrial device 114, industrial process116, other type of industrial asset 118, network-related device, etc.,can operate according to the same parameters as the previous industrialdevice 114, industrial process 116, other type of industrial asset 118,network-related device, etc., regardless of the respective types,models, manufacturers, and/or other features of the previous industrialdevice 114, industrial process 116, other type of industrial asset 118,network-related device, etc., and the new industrial device 114,industrial process 116, other type of industrial asset 118,network-related device, etc.

The model 112 of an industrial automation system 104 of an entity (e.g.,a company) can be used for other purposes as well. For instance, anentity, such as a large company, may work with various suppliers,vendors, or system integrators to obtain industrial assets (e.g., 114,116, 118) or network-related devices, have industrial assets (e.g., 114,116, 118) or network-related devices designed, etc., for the industrialautomation system 104. The entity can have respective, relevant portionsof the model 112 of its industrial automation system 104 provided torespective suppliers, vendors, or system integrators so that therespective suppliers, vendors, or system integrators can haverespective, relevant information (e.g., parameters, configurationinformation, specification information) for the respective industrialassets (e.g., 114, 116, 118) or network-related devices they aredesigning and/or providing to the entity for the respective portions ofthe industrial automation system 104. For example, the model managementcomponent 128 or backup management component 108 can providespecifications for an industrial device 114 (e.g., controller or motor),which is designed and/or manufactured by a supplier entity and used inan industrial automation system 104 of an enterprise entity, to thesupplier entity (e.g., a communication device of the supplier entity)via a relevant portion of the model 112 of the portion of the industrialautomation system 104 that comprises the industrial device 114. Also,with regard to device configuration and manufacturing standardsdeveloped by the enterprise entity or another entity(ies) in connectionwith one or more industrial devices 114 of the industrial automationsystem 104 and employed at a facility (e.g., main facility) of theenterprise entity, the model management component 128 can encode orincorporate such device configuration and manufacturing standards in themodel 112 of the industrial automation system 104. The model managementcomponent 128 or backup management component 108 can provide the model112 of the industrial automation system 104, or a relevant portionthereof, to one or more other facilities (e.g., one or morecommunication devices of the one or more facilities) associated with theenterprise entity to provide such device configuration and manufacturingstandards to the one or more other facilities to enforce operationalstandardization across multiple facilities and to make configuration ofindustrial automation systems (e.g., 104) at other (e.g., new)facilities easier through the use of such device configuration andmanufacturing standards obtained from the model at the other facilities.Thus, the model 112 can be used by an enterprise entity to facilitatehomogenizing industrial automation systems (e.g., 104) and/or productlines of the enterprise entity globally.

In accordance with other aspects and implementations of the disclosedsubject matter, once the model 112 of an industrial automation system104 is constructed, the model 112 can be an active part of theenterprise entity's industrial automation system 104 and can beintegrated with other services (e.g., backup-related services,virtualization services, custom data services, remote services) andapplications.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 200 that canfacilitate performing an inventory of assets of an industrial automationsystem to facilitate backing up and modeling the industrial automationsystem, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter. The system 200 can comprise a backup component202, which can comprise or be associated with a backup managementcomponent 204, a modeler component 206, a collection component 208, anda data store 210, wherein these components can reside on a cloudplatform 212. The system 200 also can comprise an industrial automationsystem 214 that can comprise industrial devices 216, industrialprocesses 218, other industrial assets 220, a network component 222,wherein the industrial automation system 214 can be associated with(e.g., interfaced with, communicatively connected to) the components ofthe cloud platform 212. The system 200 also can comprise a communicationdevice 224 that can be associated with (e.g., interfaced with,communicatively connected to) the components of the cloud platform 212and the industrial automation system 214.

In some implementations, some or all of the industrial devices 216,industrial processes 218, other assets 220 and network-related devicesof the network component 222 of an industrial automation system(s) 214can comprise respective information provider components, such asinformation provider components 226, 228, 230, and 232, wherein therespective information provider components 226, 228, 230, and 232 cancomprise and provide (e.g., communicate, present) respective informationregarding the respective industrial devices 216, industrial processes218, other assets 220 and network-related devices of the networkcomponent 222 of the industrial automation system(s) 214 to the backupcomponent 202, for example, via respective cloud gateway components orvia the communication device 224. Some or all of the industrial devices216, industrial processes 218, other assets 220 and network-relateddevices of the network component 222 can comprise respective cloudgateway components, such as cloud gateway components 234, 236, 238, and240. The respective cloud gateway components 234, 236, 238, and 240 canfacilitate communication of information between the cloud platform 212,including the backup component 202 on the cloud platform 212, and therespective industrial devices 216, industrial processes 218, otherassets 220 and network-related devices of the network component 222 ofthe industrial automation system 214.

The respective information provider components 226, 228, 230, and 232can be equipped with or associated with components, tools, functions,etc., that can allow the backup management component 204 or modelercomponent 206 to inventory the respective industrial devices 216,industrial processes 218, other assets 220 and network-related devicesof the network component 222 to obtain information regarding therespective industrial devices 216, industrial processes 218, otherassets 220 and network-related devices of the network component 222 fromthem. The backup management component 204 or modeler component 206 canutilize such information to facilitate backing up information relatingto the industrial automation system 214, generating a model of theindustrial automation system(s) 214, or performing other cloud-basedservices, based at least in part on such inventory of the respectiveindustrial devices 216, industrial processes 218, other assets 220 andnetwork-related devices of the network component 222.

The backup component 202 can comprise a discovery component 242 that canpoll (e.g., transmit queries, request information from) the respectiveindustrial devices 216, industrial processes 218, other industrialassets 220, and/or network-related devices of the network component 222via the respective cloud gateway components 234, 236, 238, and 240 tofacilitate obtaining the information regarding the respective industrialdevices 216, industrial processes 218, other industrial assets 220,and/or network-related devices of the network component 222 from therespective information provider components 226, 228, 230, and 232. Inaccordance with various implementations, the respective cloud gatewaycomponents 234, 236, 238, and 240 can be associated with (e.g.,communicatively connected to) and/or integrated with the respectiveindustrial devices 216, industrial processes 218, other industrialassets 220, and/or network-related devices of the network component 222,wherein the respective cloud gateway components 234, 236, 238, and 240can enable the respective information provider components 226, 228, 230,and 232 to communicate with the backup component 202 in the cloud tofacilitate the discovery component 242 detecting, discovering, obtaininginformation from, the respective industrial devices 216, industrialprocesses 218, other industrial assets 220, and/or network-relateddevices of the network component 222 of the industrial automationsystem(s) 214.

With regard to the respective industrial devices 216, industrialprocesses 218, other industrial assets 220, and/or network-relateddevices of the network component 222, the information can comprise, forexample, respective pre-deployed models of the respective industrialdevices 216, industrial processes 218, other industrial assets 220,and/or network-related devices of the network component 222, respectiveidentification information (e.g., respective identifiers) that canrespectively identify the respective industrial devices 216, industrialprocesses 218, other industrial assets 220, and/or network-relateddevices of the network component 222, respective configurationinformation that can respectively identify a configuration of therespective industrial devices 216, industrial processes 218, otherindustrial assets 220, and/or network-related devices of the networkcomponent 222, respective contextual information relating to respectiveindustrial assets (e.g., 216, 218, 220) or network-related devices,information relating functional or geographical relationships betweenrespective industrial assets (e.g., 216, 218, 220) or between anindustrial asset (e.g., 216, 218, or 220) and a network-related deviceof the network component 222, information relating to a layout (e.g.,functional layout, logic layout, geographical layout) of the industrialautomation system 214, communication network connections, or otherinformation.

In some implementations, the discovery component 242 can employ one ormore detection or discovery techniques, tools, functions, etc., tofacilitate detecting, discovering, and/or identifying industrial devices216, industrial processes 218, other industrial assets 220, and/ornetwork-related devices of the network component 222 (e.g., newly addedindustrial devices 216, industrial processes 218, other industrialassets 220, and/or network-related devices) of the industrial automationsystem 214. For example, the discovery component 242, and/or therespective information provider components 226, 228, 230, and 232, canuse WHO techniques combined with ping techniques to facilitatedetecting, discovering, and/or identifying industrial devices 216,industrial processes 218, other industrial assets 220, and/ornetwork-related devices of the network component 222 of the industrialautomation system 214.

In still other implementations, the system 200 can comprise a meshnetwork component 244 that can be associated with the backup component202 in the cloud platform 212 via a cloud gateway component 246associated with (e.g., integrated with (as depicted), communicativelyconnected to) the mesh network component 244. The mesh network component244 can be or can comprise a wireless mesh network appliance, forexample. The mesh network component 244 can obtain and gather respectiveinformation relating to the respective industrial devices 216,industrial processes 218, other industrial assets 220, and/ornetwork-related devices of the network component 222 of the industrialautomation system 214, for example, via the respective informationprovider components 226, 228, 230, and 232, or via the communicationdevice 224. The mesh network component 244 can provide (e.g.,communicate) such information to the backup component 202 in the cloudvia the cloud gateway component 246.

In some implementations, an industrial automation system 214 can containlegacy industrial assets (e.g., legacy industrial devices or otherlegacy industrial assets) or legacy network-related devices that do notcomprise or are not directly associated with a cloud gateway component.The communication device 224 (e.g., a laptop computer, a mobile phone,an electronic tablet, electronic eyeglasses, or other type ofcommunication device) can be employed to facilitate inventorying (e.g.,locally inventorying) and collecting information relating to such legacyindustrial assets or legacy network-related devices.

The communication device 224 can comprise a capture component 248 thatcan comprise a camera that can be used to take one or more pictures, orvideo, of legacy industrial assets, legacy network-related devices,other industrial assets or network-related devices in proximity to thelegacy industrial assets or legacy network-related devices, and/or anarea of the plant in proximity to a legacy industrial asset or legacynetwork-related device. For example, the capture component 248 can takea picture or video of a nameplate or other identifier information on alegacy industrial asset or legacy network-related device to facilitateidentifying the legacy industrial asset or legacy network-relateddevice. The capture component 248 also can take a picture or video of arelationship (e.g., functional relationship (e.g., connection(s)),geographical relationship), for example, between a first industrialasset and another industrial asset(s).

In some implementations, the communication device 224 can comprise arecognizer component 250 that can analyze a photograph or video of oneor more industrial assets and/or network-related devices, and canrecognize (e.g. using pattern or OCR recognition) or identify a legacyindustrial asset or legacy network-related device, a relationshipbetween industrial assets, and/or a relationship between an industrialasset and a network-related device, based at least in part oninformation obtained via the photograph or video. In otherimplementations, the recognizer component can reside in the cloud (e.g.,in the backup component 202), wherein the photograph or video can bereceived by the recognizer component in the cloud and analyzed by therecognizer component to facilitate recognizing or identifying a legacyindustrial asset or legacy network-related device, a relationshipbetween industrial assets, and/or a relationship between an industrialasset and a network-related device. Information relating to legacyindustrial assets or legacy network-related devices also can be input tothe communication device 224 by a user via a keyboard, keypad, or audiointerface (e.g., a microphone) and communicated to the discoverycomponent 242 or collection component 208 by the communication device224.

The communication device 224 also can comprise a processor component 252that can operate in conjunction with the other components (e.g., capturecomponent 248) to facilitate performing the various functions andoperations of the communication device 224. The processor component 252can employ one or more processors (e.g., central processing units(CPUs), graphical processing units (GPUs), field-programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), etc.), microprocessors, or controllers that can processdata, such as industrial-automation-system-related data (e.g., devicedata, process data, asset data, system data, etc.) associated withindustrial automation systems, customer or client related data, datarelating to parameters associated with an industrial automation system,etc., to facilitate communicating respective information relating torespective industrial assets or network-related devices to the backupcomponent 202 or other component (e.g., on the cloud platform 212), orperforming other discovery or identification related operations; and cancontrol data flow between the communication device 224 and othercomponents associated with the communication device 224.

In yet another aspect, the communication device 224 can contain a datastore 254 that can store data structures (e.g., user data, metadata);code structure(s) (e.g., modules, objects, classes, procedures),commands, or instructions; industrial-automation-system-related data(e.g., including pictures or video) or other data associated withindustrial automation systems or industrial enterprises; customer orclient related information; parameter data; algorithms (e.g.,algorithm(s) relating to recognizing or identifying respectiveindustrial devices, industrial processes, industrial assets,network-related devices, interrelationships between such devices,processes, or assets); and so on. In an aspect, the processor component252 can be functionally coupled (e.g., through a memory bus) to the datastore 254 in order to store and retrieve data desired to operate and/orconfer functionality, at least in part, to the capture component 248,recognizer component 250, etc., of the communication device 224 and/orsubstantially any other operational aspects of the communication device224. It is to be appreciated and understood that the various componentsof the communication device 224 can communicate data, instructions, orsignals between each other and/or between other components associatedwith the communication device 224 as desired to carry out operations ofthe communication device 224. It is to be further appreciated andunderstood that respective components (e.g., capture component 248,recognizer component 250, etc.) of the communication device 224 each canbe a stand-alone unit, can be included within the communication device224 (as depicted), can be incorporated within another component of thecommunication device 224 or a component separate from the communicationdevice 224, and/or virtually any suitable combination thereof, asdesired.

In certain implementations, the system 200 can comprise a segmentercomponent 256 that can be located at the local (e.g., plant) level (asdepicted) or on the cloud platform 212. The segmenter component 256 canbe associated with the industrial automation system 214, communicationdevice 224, and/or mesh network component 244. The segmenter component256 can classify, determine, filter, and/or segment respective data withregard to data that can be provided to the cloud platform (e.g., to thebackup component 202 in the cloud) and data that is not to be providedto the cloud (e.g., to the backup component 202 in the cloud) based atleast in part on one or more preferences (e.g., enterprise entitypreference(s), user preference(s)). The one or more preferences can bedetermined or selected based at least in part on the respective levelsof data sensitivity of respective items of data associated with theindustrial automation system 214, as such respective levels of datasensitivity are determined or assigned to the respective data by theenterprise entity or other user. In certain implementations, thesegmenter component 256 can have a slider component (e.g., a graphicalslider component) or other control that can be manipulated (e.g., moved)by a user to facilitate setting the respective levels of datasensitivity for respective types of data associated with the industrialautomation system 214.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of an example system 300 that canfacilitate identifying a user or device that is attempting to obtain anIP address associated with an industrial automation system, inaccordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subjectmatter. The system 300 can comprise a backup component 302, a backupmanagement component 304, a modeler component 306, a collectioncomponent 308, and a data store 310, wherein these components can resideon a cloud platform 312. The system 200 also can comprise an industrialautomation system 314 that can comprise industrial devices 316,industrial processes 318, other industrial assets 320, a networkcomponent 322, wherein the industrial automation system 314 can beassociated with (e.g., interfaced with, communicatively connected to)the components of the cloud platform 312.

The system 300 also can comprise an interrogator component 324 that canfacilitate identifying a user or device that is attempting to obtain anIP address associated with the industrial automation system 314. Forinstance, at any given time, the interrogator component 324 can identifywhat devices (e.g., computer, mobile phone, electronic pad or table,industrial device, or other device) are on the network associated withthe industrial automation system 314. The interrogator component 324 canemploy one or more tools or techniques (e.g., troubleshooting orassistance tools or techniques) to facilitate identifying what user ordevice is trying to obtain an IP address in connection with theindustrial automation system 314 (e.g., the network component 322 of theindustrial automation system 314). In accordance with variousimplementations, the interrogator component 324 can be located at thelocal or plant level, or can be located in the cloud platform. Forexample, the interrogator component 324 can reside between the machinenetwork and plant network, and can report (e.g., communicate) data, suchas network-related or architecture data, to the backup component 302 onthe cloud platform 312 for use by the backup component 302 to performbackup-related services in connection with the industrial automationsystem 314 and/or the modeler component 306 to facilitate generating orupdating the model of the industrial automation system 314.

As disclosed herein, the backup system, modeling system, or constituentcomponents, such as described with regard to the systems (e.g., 100,200, 300, etc.) described herein, or respective portions thereof, can belocated on a cloud platform. To provide a general context for thecloud-based modeler system, cloud-based virtualization system, andservices described herein, FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of ahigh-level overview of an example industrial enterprise 400 that canleverage cloud-based services, including industrial-plant-backup-relatedservices, modeling services, data collection services, and data storageservices, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter. The industrial enterprise 400 can comprise oneor more industrial facilities, such as industrial facility₁ 404 ₁ upthrough industrial facility_(N) 404 _(N), wherein each industrialfacility can include a number of industrial devices in use. For example,industrial facility₁ 404 ₁ can comprise industrial device₁ 408 ₁ upthrough industrial device_(N) 408 _(N), and industrial facility_(N) 404_(N) can comprise industrial device₁ 410 ₁ up through industrialdevice_(N) 410 _(N). The industrial devices (e.g., 408 ₁, 408 _(N), 410₁, 410 _(N), etc.) can make up one or more industrial automation systemsthat can operate within the respective industrial facilities (e.g.,industrial facility₁ 404 ₁ up through industrial facility_(N) 404 _(N)).Exemplary industrial automation systems can include, but are not limitedto, batch control systems (e.g., mixing systems), continuous controlsystems (e.g., proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control systems),or discrete control systems. Industrial devices (e.g., 408 ₁, 408 _(N),410 ₁, 410 _(N), etc.) can include such industrial devices as industrialcontrollers (e.g., programmable logic controllers or other types ofprogrammable automation controllers); field devices such as sensors andmeters; motor drives; HMIs; industrial robots, barcode markers, andreaders; vision system devices (e.g., vision cameras); smart welders; orother types of industrial devices.

Exemplary industrial automation systems can include one or moreindustrial controllers that can facilitate monitoring and controlling oftheir respective industrial processes. The industrial controllers canexchange data with the field devices using native hardwired input/output(I/O) or via a plant network, such as Ethernet/Internet Protocol (IP),Data Highway Plus, ControlNet, Devicenet, or the like. A givenindustrial controller typically can receive any combination of digitalor analog signals from the field devices that can indicate a currentstate of the industrial devices and/or their associated industrialprocesses (e.g., temperature, position, part presence or absence, fluidlevel, etc.), and can execute a user-defined control program that canperform automated decision-making for the controlled industrialprocesses based on the received signals. The industrial controller canoutput appropriate digital and/or analog control signaling to the fielddevices in accordance with the decisions made by the control program.These outputs can include device actuation signals, temperature orposition control signals, operational commands to a machining ormaterial handling robot, mixer control signals, motion control signals,and the like. The control program can comprise any suitable type of codethat can be used to process input signals read into the controller andto control output signals generated by the industrial controller,including, but not limited to, ladder logic, sequential function charts,function block diagrams, structured text, or other such platforms.

Although the exemplary overview illustrated in FIG. 4 depicts theindustrial devices (e.g., 408 ₁, 408 _(N), 410 ₁, 410 _(N)) as residingin fixed-location industrial facilities (e.g., industrial facility₁ 404₁ up through industrial facility_(N) 404 _(N), respectively), in someimplementations, the industrial devices (e.g., 408 ₁, 408 _(N), 410 ₁,and/or 410 _(N)) also can be part of a mobile control and/or monitoringapplication, such as a system contained in a truck or other servicevehicle.

According to one or more embodiments of the disclosed subject matter,industrial devices (e.g., 408 ₁, 408 _(N), 410 ₁, 410 _(N), etc.) can becoupled to a cloud platform 402 to facilitate leveraging cloud-basedapplications and services (e.g., industrial-plant-backup-relatedservices, data collection services, data storage services, modelingservices, etc.) associated with the cloud platform 402. That is, theindustrial devices (e.g., 408 ₁, 408 _(N), 410 ₁, 410 _(N), etc.) can beconfigured to discover and interact with cloud-based computing services412 that can be hosted by the cloud platform 402. The cloud platform 402can be any infrastructure that can allow cloud services 412 (e.g.,cloud-based computing services, shared computing services) to beaccessed and utilized by cloud-capable devices. The cloud platform 402can be a public cloud that can be accessible via a public network, suchas the Internet, by devices having public network connectivity (e.g.,Internet connectivity) and appropriate authorizations to utilize thecloud services 412. In some scenarios, the cloud platform 502 can beprovided by a cloud provider as a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and/orreliability-as-a-service (RaaS), and the cloud services 412 can resideand execute on the cloud platform 402 as a cloud-based service. In somesuch configurations, access to the cloud platform 402 and associatedcloud services 412 can be provided to customers as a subscriptionservice by an owner of the cloud services 412. Additionally and/oralternatively, the cloud platform 402 can be a private cloud that can beoperated internally by the industrial enterprise 400 or an associatedenterprise associated with a third-party entity. An exemplary privatecloud platform can comprise a set of servers that can host the cloudservices 412 and can reside on a private network (e.g., an intranet, acorporate network, etc.) that can be protected by a firewall.

The cloud services 412 can include, but are not limited to,backup-related services, translation services (e.g., translationservices to translate model data or other backup data), data collection,data storage, data analysis, control applications (e.g., applicationsthat can generate and deliver control instructions to industrial devices(e.g., 408 ₁, 408 _(N), 410 ₁, 410 _(N), etc.) based at least in part onanalysis of real-time or near real-time system data or other factors),remote monitoring and support, generation and management of a model(s)of an industrial automation system(s) that can correspond to theindustrial automation system(s), remote control of an industrialautomation system(s) via a model(s), provision of security in connectionwith a model or virtualized industrial automation system and anassociated industrial automation system, or provision of otherapplications or services relating to industrial automation. If the cloudplatform 402 is a web-based cloud, industrial devices (e.g., 408 ₁, 408_(N), 410 ₁, 410 _(N), etc.) at the respective industrial facilities 404can interact with cloud services 412 via the public network (e.g., theInternet). In an exemplary configuration, the industrial devices (e.g.,408 ₁, 408 _(N), 410 ₁, 410 _(N), etc.) can access the cloud services412 through separate cloud gateways (e.g., cloud gateway component 406_(1M) up through cloud gateway component 406 _(NM)) at the respectiveindustrial facilities (e.g., industrial facility₁ 404 ₁ up throughindustrial facility_(N) 404 _(N), respectively), wherein the industrialdevices (e.g., 408 ₁, 408 _(N), 410 ₁, 410 _(N), etc.) can connect tothe respective cloud gateway components (e.g., cloud gateway component406 _(1M) up through cloud gateway component 406 _(NM)) through aphysical (e.g., wireline) or wireless local area network or radio link.In another exemplary configuration, the industrial devices (e.g., 408 ₁,408 _(N), 410 ₁, 410 _(N), etc.) can access the cloud platform 402directly using an integrated cloud gateway service. Cloud gatewaycomponents (e.g., cloud gateway component 406 _(1M) up through cloudgateway component 406 _(NM)) also can comprise an integrated componentof a network infrastructure device, such as a firewall box, router, orswitch.

Providing industrial devices with cloud capability via the cloud gatewaycomponents (e.g., cloud gateway component 406 _(1M) up through cloudgateway component 406 _(NM)) can offer a number of advantages particularto industrial automation. For instance, cloud-based storage (e.g.,cloud-based data store) offered by the cloud platform 402 can be easilyscaled to accommodate the large quantities of data that can be generateddaily by an industrial enterprise. Further, multiple industrialfacilities (e.g., industrial facility₁ 404 ₁ up through industrialfacility_(N) 404 _(N)) at different geographical locations can migrate(e.g., communicate) their respective industrial automation data to thecloud platform 402 (e.g., via the collection component) for aggregation,collation, collective big data analysis, and enterprise-level reportingwithout the need to establish a private network between the respectiveindustrial facilities. Industrial devices (e.g., 408 ₁, 408 _(N), 410 ₁,410 _(N), etc.) and/or cloud gateway components (e.g., cloud gatewaycomponent 406 _(1M) up through cloud gateway component 406 _(NM)) havingsmart configuration capability can be configured to automatically detectand communicate with the cloud platform 402 upon installation at anyfacility, which can thereby simplify integration with existingcloud-based data storage, analysis, or reporting applications used bythe industrial enterprise 400. In another exemplary application,cloud-based backup applications (e.g., employed by the backup systemcomprising a backup component) can access the data (e.g., model data orother backup information) relating to an industrial automation system(s)stored in the cloud-based data store, and can perform backup-relatedservices (e.g., restoring industrial-automation-system-related data(e.g., lost model data or other backup data), configuring or programmingall or a portion of an industrial automation system using backupinformation (e.g., model data or other backup data), standardizingindustrial plant configurations and operations, translating model dataor other backup data in accordance with a desired format or platform),to facilitate desirable (e.g., optimal, suitable) operation of theindustrial automation system(s), or another industrial automationsystem(s), and remote interaction with the industrial automationsystem(s) by users (e.g., via a communication device) to facilitateremote performance of tasks in connection with the industrial automationsystem(s). In still another exemplary application, cloud-based backupapplications or modeling applications (e.g., employed by a modelersystem comprising the modeler component) can access the data relating toan industrial automation system(s) stored in the cloud-based data store,can generate and/or update a model(s) of an industrial automationsystem(s), wherein the model(s) can accurately depict or represent thelayout and device make-up, and operation, of the industrial automationsystem(s) to facilitate desirable (e.g., optimal, suitable) operation ofthe industrial automation system(s) and remote interaction with theindustrial automation system(s) by users (e.g., via a communicationdevice) to facilitate remote performance of tasks in connection with theindustrial automation system(s). These industrial cloud-computingapplications are only intended to be exemplary, and the systems andmethods described herein are not limited to these particularapplications. As these examples demonstrate, the cloud platform 402,working with cloud gateway components (e.g., cloud gateway component 406_(1M) up through cloud gateway component 406 _(NM)), can allow buildersof industrial applications to provide scalable solutions as a service,removing the burden of maintenance, upgrading, and backup of theunderlying infrastructure and framework.

FIG. 5 presents a block diagram of an exemplary backup component 500(e.g., cloud-based, or partially cloud-based, modeler component)according to various implementations and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter. The backup component 500 can be part of a backup system(e.g., a cloud-based backup system). Aspects of the systems,apparatuses, or processes explained in this disclosure can constitutemachine-executable components embodied within machine(s), e.g., embodiedin one or more computer-readable mediums (or media) associated with oneor more machines. Such components, when executed by one or moremachines, e.g., computer(s), computing device(s), automation device(s),virtual machine(s), etc., can cause the machine(s) to perform theoperations described.

The backup component 500 can comprise a communication component 502 thatcan be used to communicate (e.g., transmit, receive) information betweenthe backup component 500 and other components (e.g., communicationdevices, network-related devices, industrial devices, other types ofindustrial assets that have communication functionality, other deviceswith communication functionality that are associated with industrialenterprises, cloud gateway components, etc.). The information caninclude, for example, data relating to industrial automation systems,data relating to specifications, properties, or characteristics ofindustrial devices or other industrial assets, customer-related data,work-order-related data relating to work orders that will or may behandled by an industrial automation system, etc.

The backup component 500 can comprise an aggregator component 504 thatcan aggregate data received (e.g., obtained, collected, detected, etc.)from various entities (e.g., communication devices, industrial devices,industrial assets, network-related devices, cloud gateway components,other devices with communication functionality that are associated withindustrial enterprises, processor component(s), user interface(s), datastore(s), etc.). The aggregator component 504 can correlate respectiveitems of data based at least in part on type of data, source of thedata, time or date the data was generated or received, type of device orasset associated with the data, identifier associated with a device orasset, customer associated with the data, user (e.g., operator,supervisor or manager, engineer, technician, etc.) associated with thedata, industrial automation system associated with the data, industrialenterprise associated with the system, etc., to facilitate processing ofthe data (e.g., analyzing of the data, backing up data of an industrialautomation system(s), generating models, etc.).

The backup component 500 also can include a monitor component 506 thatcan monitor device data, process data, asset data, system data, customerdata, and/or other data in connection with the industrial automationsystems. For instance, the monitor component 606 can monitor information(e.g., signals, device or process statuses, network communication ofinformation, process flows, updates, modifications, etc.) associatedwith industrial automation systems, virtualized industrial automationsystems, industrial enterprises, and/or systems or devices of customersassociated with the industrial enterprises to facilitate detectinginformation associated with industrial automation systems that canfacilitate backing up information relating to the industrial automationsystems, generating and updating models of industrial automationsystems, generating and updating virtualized industrial automationsystems, remotely tracking operation of or controlling operation of anindustrial automation system via an associated model or associatedvirtualized industrial automation system, and/or performing otherbackup-related or modeling-related services. The monitor component 506can be associated with sensors, meters, HMIs, communication monitoringcomponents, or other components associated with industrial automationsystems, industrial enterprises, and/or systems or devices of thecustomers to facilitate the monitoring of the industrial automationsystems, industrial enterprises, and/or systems or devices of thecustomers.

The backup component 500 can comprise a detector component 508 that candetect desired information associated with industrial automation systemsthat can facilitate performing backup-related services, model-relatedservices, or other services (e.g., other cloud-based services) inconnection with an industrial automation system (e.g., backing upinformation relating to an industrial automation system, generating orupdating a model, remotely interacting with (e.g., monitoring, tracking,and/or controlling, etc., operation of) an industrial automation systemvia interacting with a model or a virtualized industrial automationsystem, etc.), in accordance with the defined operation criteria (e.g.,defined backup criteria, defined modeling criteria, or other operationcriteria). For instance, the detector component 508 can detect desireddevice data, process data, asset data, system data, and/or customer datain connection with the industrial automation systems that can facilitatebacking up data relating to the industrial automation system(s), orgenerating a model or a virtualized industrial automation system thatcan accurately represent and/or interface with an industrial automationsystem, remotely interacting with and/or controlling an industrialautomation system via an associated model or virtualized industrialautomation system, and/or performing other backup-related ormodeling-related services or functions. In some implementations, thedetector component 508 can be, can comprise, or can be associated withthe discovery component (e.g., as described herein with regard to thesystem 200 of FIG. 2).

The backup component 500 also can include a collection component 510that can receive, collect, or obtain data (e.g., desired device data,process data, asset data, system data, and/or customer data) fromindustrial automation systems, communication devices, models,virtualized industrial automation systems, extrinsic sources, etc., tofacilitate performing backup-related and modeling-related services, asmore fully disclosed herein. The data collected by the collectioncomponent 510 can be stored in the data store 528, and/or can be madeavailable to other components (e.g., backup management component 514,analyzer component 516, etc.) to facilitate backing up data relating tothe industrial automation systems, generating and updating models ofindustrial automation systems, generating and updating virtualizedindustrial automation systems, translating configuration, programming,and/or model data to facilitate restoring, configuring, and/orprogramming an industrial automation system, or portion thereof,remotely interacting with (e.g., monitoring, tracking, and/orcontrolling, etc.) an industrial automation system via an associatedmodel or virtualized industrial automation system, and/or performingother backup-related or modeling-related services or functions.

The backup component 500 can comprise an interface component 512 thatcan be employed to facilitate interfacing the backup component 500 withindustrial automation systems and their constituent components (e.g.,industrial devices or assets, network-related devices or assets, etc.)or processes, systems or devices associated with customers, systems ordevices associated with device manufacturers, etc. For instance, theinterface component 512 can be configured to receive industrial data(e.g., device data, process data, asset data, system data, configurationdata, status data, process variable data, etc.) sent by one or morecloud-capable industrial devices, cloud-capable network-related devices,cloud gateway components associated with industrial devices ornetwork-related devices, communication devices, or other sources ofindustrial data. The interface component 512 also can be configured toreceive network-related data (e.g., data relating to communicationconditions, network-status data, data identifying network-relateddevices, etc.) communicated by one or more network-related devices ofthe network component of an industrial automation system. The interfacecomponent 512 also can be configured to interface a model (or anvirtualized industrial automation system) with a correspondingindustrial automation system to facilitate remotely interacting with(e.g., monitoring, tracking, and/or controlling, etc., operation of) theindustrial automation system via interactions (e.g., user interactions)with the model (or the virtualized industrial automation system (e.g.,via virtualized control of the virtualized operation of the virtualizedindustrial automation system)). The interface component 512 further canbe configured to exchange data with one or more client or customerdevices via an Internet connection. For example, the interface component512 can receive customer profile data, requests for firmware upgrades,customer service selections, information relating to work orders forproducts, customer preferences or requirements with regard to a workorder, or other such information from a client device (e.g., anInternet-capable client device, such as a phone, a computer, anelectronic tablet or pad, or other suitable Internet-capable device).The interface component 512 also can deliver (e.g., communicate,download) backed-up data (e.g., configuration data, programming data,parameter data model data of the model), upgrade notifications, firmwareupgrades, reports or notifications regarding the evaluation of anddeterminations regarding proposed modifications to an industrialautomation system, notifications of impending device failures,identification of asset or system inefficiencies, configurationrecommendations, or other such data to the client device.

The backup component 500 also can contain a backup management component514 that can control operations relating to processing data, backing updata of an industrial automation system(s) for storage on the cloudplatform, generating agnostic or standardized backed-up data (e.g.,model data, configuration data, programming data, parameter data)relating to an industrial automation system, translating (e.g.,converting) data from one format or platform (e.g., agnostic orstandardized format or platform) to another format or platform (e.g., aformat or platform employed by an industrial automation system, orportion thereof), generating or updating a model of an industrialautomation system, facilitating generating or updating a virtualizedindustrial automation system that can represent an industrial automationsystem, remotely controlling an industrial automation system (e.g.,using an associated model or virtualized industrial automation system),performing simulation operations using a model (e.g., simulation model)in connection with an industrial automation system, and/or performingother operations in connection with the industrial automation system.The backup management component 514 can facilitate controllingoperations being performed by various components of the backup component500, controlling data flow between various components of the backupcomponent 500, controlling data flow between the backup component 500and other components or systems associated with the backup component500, etc.

The analyzer component 516 can analyze data (e.g., device data, processdata, asset data, system data, customer data, user-generated oruser-provided data, and/or other data) to facilitate generatingbacked-up data relating to an industrial automation system (e.g., modeldata, configuration data, programming data, parameter data), translating(e.g., converting) data from one format or platform (e.g., agnostic orstandardized format or platform) to another format or platform (e.g., aformat or platform employed by an industrial automation system, orportion thereof), downloading backed-up data to an industrial automationsystem, generating or updating a model of an industrial automationsystem, generating or updating a virtualized industrial automationsystem of an industrial automation system, performing simulation ofoperation of an industrial automation system using a model, etc. Theanalyzer component 516 can parse data to facilitate identifying datathat is relevant to performing an operation (e.g., generating backed-updata, generating a model, generating a virtualized industrial automationsystem, etc.) by the backup component 500. Based at least in part on theanalysis of the data, the analyzer component 516 can generate analysisresults that can be provided to another component (e.g., backupmanagement component 514, processor component 526, data store 528, etc.)to facilitate the performance of various operations by the backupcomponent 500.

The backup component 500 also can comprise a modeler component 518 thatcan generate and/or update a model that can represent an industrialautomation system, facilitate remotely interacting with and/orcontrolling an industrial automation system using an associated model orvirtualized industrial automation system, perform simulation operationsusing a model of an industrial automation system, and/or performingother operations. For instance, the modeler component 518 can generateand/or update a model that can represent an industrial automationsystem, including generating and/or updating modeled versions orinstances of the constituent components (e.g., industrial devices,industrial processes, industrial assets, network-related devices orassets, etc.) of the industrial control system, the interrelationshipsbetween respective constituent components, configurations of respectiveconstituent components, etc., in accordance with the set of definedmodeling criteria, as more fully disclosed herein.

The backup component 500 can include a translation component 520 thatcan translate (e.g., convert) data from one format or platform (e.g.,agnostic or standardized format or platform) to another format orplatform (e.g., a format or platform employed by an industrialautomation system, or portion thereof). For instance, the translationcomponent 520 can generate or translate data, such as backed-up data(e.g., configuration data, programming data, parameter data, modeldata), relating to an industrial automation system such that the data isin an agnostic or standardized format, or in another desired format(e.g., commonly used format), wherein the backed-up data can be agnosticwith respect to the format or platform employed by any particularindustrial automation system or constituent component (e.g., industrialdevice, network-related device) thereof. When backed-up data is to bedownloaded to a particular industrial automation system, the translationcomponent 520 can translate the backed-up data to a desired (e.g.,compatible) format that can be compatible with the particular industrialautomation system (e.g., an industrial device(s) of the industrialautomation system) with respect to format (e.g., language, syntax, orother structure) and/or platform, based at least in part on thecharacteristics of the particular industrial automation system. Thebackup management component 514, translation component 520, or othercomponent can determine the characteristics of the particular industrialautomation system based at least in part on industrial data (e.g.,industrial-automation-system-related data) relating to the particularindustrial automation system (e.g., obtained from the particularindustrial automation system, the data store 528, or from an extrinsicdata source). The translation component 520 can determine a translationfunction to apply to the stored backed-up data (e.g., backed-up data inthe agnostic or standardized format), based at least in part on thecharacteristics of the particular industrial automation system, and canapply the translation function to translate the backed-up data togenerate compatible backup data that can be compatible with theparticular industrial automation system. The backup management component514 can communicate (e.g., transmit, download) the compatible backupdata to the industrial automation system to facilitate restoring,configuring or reconfiguring, and/or programming or re-programming,etc., the particular industrial automation system, or portion thereof.

The backup component 500 also can comprise a security component 522 thatcan facilitate securing data (e.g., industrial data, backed-up data, amodel (e.g., model data)), the cloud platform (including componentstherein), a virtualized industrial automation system associated with amodel, and an industrial automation system. The security component 522can facilitate controlling access to the data, the cloud platform, thevirtualized industrial automation system, and/or the industrialautomation system, based at least in part on respective authenticationcredentials of user, respective access rights of users, respectivelocations of users, etc.

The backup component 500 also can comprise a simulation component 524that can generate or augment a model of the industrial automation systemfor use as a simulation model of the industrial automation system basedat least in part on the simulation or emulation of the industrialcontrol system, in accordance with the set of defined modeling criteria.The simulation component 524 can integrate the respective simulations oremulations of the constituent components of the industrial automationsystem, the interrelationships between respective constituentcomponents, configurations of respective constituent components, etc.,to facilitate generating the simulation model that can simulate oremulate the industrial automation system. The simulation component 524also can use the simulation model to facilitate simulating operation ofthe industrial automation system under (e.g., in response to) a givenset of conditions (e.g., under a set of conditions associated with amodification (e.g., adjustment to a modeled control, adjustment to amodeled switch, addition of a modeled industrial device, replacement ofa modeled industrial device with a new modeled industrial device, changeof a parameter on a modeled industrial device, etc.) to the model (orassociated virtualized industrial control system) that is underconsideration). The backup component 500 or a user can analyze theresults of the simulated operation of the industrial automation system,and can determine whether the model of the industrial automation systemaccurately replicates the industrial automation system, determinewhether a modification to the model (or associated virtualizedindustrial control system) that is under consideration is to beperformed, determine whether the corresponding modification to theindustrial automation system is to be performed, etc., based at least inpart on the analysis results.

The backup component 500 also can comprise a processor component 526that can operate in conjunction with the other components (e.g.,communication component 502, aggregator component 504, monitor component506, etc.) to facilitate performing the various functions and operationsof the backup component 500. The processor component 526 can employ oneor more processors (e.g., CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, etc.), microprocessors, orcontrollers that can process data, such as industrial data (e.g., devicedata, process data, asset data, system data, etc.) associated withindustrial control systems, customer or client related data, datarelating to parameters associated with the backup component 500 andassociated components, etc., to facilitate backing up an industrialautomation system, translating data relating to an industrial automationsystem, downloading backed-up data to an industrial automation system,generating or updating a model or a virtualized industrial automationsystem that can represent an industrial automation system, remotelyinteracting with and/or controlling an industrial automation systemusing an associated model or virtualized industrial automation system,generating a simulation model of an industrial automation system,performing simulation operations using simulation models to facilitatedetermining whether to perform a particular action in connection with amodel, a virtualized industrial automation system, or associatedindustrial automation system, performing other backup-related ormodeling-related operations, etc.; and can control data flow between thebackup component 500 and other components associated with the backupcomponent 500.

In yet another aspect, the backup component 500 can contain a data store528 that can store data structures (e.g., user data, metadata); codestructure(s) (e.g., modules, objects, classes, procedures), commands, orinstructions; industrial data or other data associated with industrialautomation systems or industrial enterprises; customer or client relatedinformation; data relating to backup-related or modeling-relatedservices in connection with industrial automation systems; data relatingto backing up an industrial automation system, translating data relatingto an industrial automation system, downloading backed-up data to anindustrial automation system, or generating or updating a model or avirtualized industrial automation system that can represent anindustrial automation system; parameter data; algorithms (e.g.,algorithm(s) relating to backing up data or using backed-up data;algorithm(s) relating to generating or updating model or a virtualizedindustrial automation system that can represent an industrial automationsystem, including its industrial devices, industrial processes,industrial assets, network-related devices, interrelationships betweensuch devices, processes, or assets, etc.; algorithm(s) relating toremotely interacting with (e.g., monitoring, tracking, controlling,etc.) an industrial automation system using an associated model orvirtualized industrial automation system); defined backup criteria,defined modeling criteria, or other defined operation criteria; and soon. In an aspect, the processor component 526 can be functionallycoupled (e.g., through a memory bus) to the data store 528 in order tostore and retrieve data desired to operate and/or confer functionality,at least in part, to the communication component 502, aggregatorcomponent 504, monitor component 506, etc., of the backup component 500and/or substantially any other operational aspects of the backupcomponent 500. It is to be appreciated and understood that the variouscomponents of the backup component 500 can communicate data,instructions, or signals between each other and/or between othercomponents associated with the backup component 500 as desired to carryout operations of the backup component 500. It is to be furtherappreciated and understood that respective components (e.g.,communication component 502, aggregator component 504, monitor component506, etc.) of the backup component 500 each can be a stand-alone unit,can be included within the backup component 500 (as depicted), can beincorporated within another component of the backup component 500 (e.g.,within the backup management component 514) or a component separate fromthe backup component 500, and/or virtually any suitable combinationthereof, as desired. It also is to be appreciated and understood thatrespective components (e.g., communication component 502, aggregatorcomponent 504, monitor component 506, . . . processor component 526,data store 528) of the backup component 500 can be shared with and usedby another component(s) (e.g., virtualization component) or system(s)(e.g., modeling system, virtualization system) or such othercomponent(s) or system(s) can comprise components that can be the sameas or similar to that of the backup component 500.

In accordance with various embodiments, one or more of the variouscomponents of the backup component 500 (e.g., communication component502, aggregator component 504, monitor component 506, etc.) can beelectrically and/or communicatively coupled to one another to performone or more of the functions of the backup component 500. In someimplementations, one or more components of the backup component 500(e.g., communication component 502, aggregator component 504, monitorcomponent 506, etc.) can comprise software instructions that can bestored in the data store 528 and executed by the processor component526. The backup component 500 also can interact with other hardwareand/or software components not depicted in FIG. 5. For example, theprocessor component 526 can interact with one or more external userinterface devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a display monitor, atouchscreen, or other such interface devices.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of an example system 600 that canfacilitate backup of an industrial automation system and/or generationof a model of the industrial automation system that can berepresentative of the industrial automation system, and the performanceof other backup-related services and model-related services based atleast in part collection of customer-specific industrial data by acloud-based backup system or modeler system, in accordance with variousaspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. The system 600can include a backup system 602 and modeler system 604 that respectivelycan execute as (e.g., perform and provide) cloud-based services on acloud platform (e.g., cloud platform 402 of FIG. 4), and can collectdata from multiple industrial automation systems, such as industrialautomation system₁ 606 ₁, industrial automation system₂ 606 ₂, and/or(up through) industrial automation system_(N) 606 _(N). The industrialautomation systems (e.g., 606 ₁, 606 ₂, 606 _(N)) can comprise differentindustrial automation systems within a given facility and/or differentindustrial facilities at diverse geographical locations. Industrialautomation systems (e.g., 606 ₁, 606 ₂, 7606 _(N)) also can correspondto different business entities (e.g., different industrial enterprisesor customers), wherein the backup system 602 or modeler system 604 cancollect and maintain a distinct customer data store 608 for eachcustomer or business entity.

The backup system 602 or modeler system 604 can organize manufacturingdata collected from the industrial automation systems (e.g., 606 ₁, 606₂, 606 _(N)) according to various classes. In the illustrated example,manufacturing data can be classified according to device data 610,process data 612, asset data 614, and system data 616.

Referring briefly to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram of an examplehierarchical relationship 700 between these example data classes. Agiven plant or supply chain 702 can comprise one or more industrialautomation systems 704. The industrial automation systems 704 canrepresent the production lines or productions areas within a given plantfacility or across multiple facilities of a supply chain. Eachindustrial automation system 704 can comprise a number of assets 706that can represent the machines and equipment that make up theindustrial automation system (e.g., the various stages of a productionline). In general, each asset 706 can comprise one or more industrialdevices 708, which can include, for example, the programmablecontrollers, motor drives, HMIs, sensors, meters, etc. comprising theasset 706. The various data classes depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7 are onlyintended to be exemplary, and it is to be appreciated that anyorganization of industrial data classes maintained by the backup system602 or modeler system 604 is within the scope of one or more embodimentsof the disclosed subject matter.

Returning again to FIG. 6 (along with FIG. 7), the backup system 602 ormodeler system 604 can collect and maintain data from the variousdevices and assets that make up the industrial automation systems 704and can classify the data according to the aforementioned classes forthe purposes of facilitating analysis of the data, generation of modelsof the industrial automation systems (e.g., 606 ₁, 606 ₂, 606 _(N)),and/or performing other operations by the backup system 602 or modelersystem 604. Device data 610 can comprise device-level informationrelating to the identity, configuration, and status of the respectivedevices comprising the industrial automation systems (e.g., 606 ₁, 606₂, 606 _(N)), including but not limited to device identifiers, devicestatuses, current firmware versions, health and diagnostic data, devicedocumentation, identification and relationship of neighboring devicesthat interact with the device, etc.

The process data 612 can comprise information relating to one or moreprocesses or other automation operations carried out by the devices;e.g., device-level and process-level faults and alarms, process variablevalues (speeds, temperatures, pressures, etc.), and the like.

The asset data 614 can comprise information generated, collected,determined, or inferred based on data that can be aggregated fromvarious (e.g., multiple) industrial devices over time, which can yieldhigher asset-level views of the industrial automation systems (e.g., 606₁, 606 ₂, 606 _(N)). Example asset data 614 can include performanceindicators (key performance indicators (KPIs)) for the respectiveassets, asset-level process variables, faults, alarms, etc. Since theasset data 614 can yield a relatively longer term view of assetcharacteristics relative to the device and process data, the backupsystem 602 or modeler system 604 can leverage the asset data 614 tofacilitate identifying operational patterns and correlations unique toeach asset, among other types of analysis, and this can facilitatebacking up information relating to the industrial automation system,performing other backup-related services, generating respective modelingassets or virtualization assets that can correspond to the respectiveassets, and generating, updating, using, customizing, etc., of model ora virtualized industrial automation system of the industrial controlsystem based at least in part on the respective models orvirtualizations of the respective assets associated with the industrialcontrol system.

The system data 616 can comprise collected, determined, or inferredinformation that can be generated based on data that can be aggregatedfrom various (e.g., multiple) assets over time. The system data 616 cancharacterize system behavior within a large system of assets, yielding asystem-level view of each of the industrial automation systems (e.g.,606 ₁, 606 ₂, 606 _(N)). The system data 616 also can document theparticular system configurations in use and industrial operationsperformed at each of the industrial automation systems (e.g., 606 ₁, 606₂, 606 _(N)). For example, the system data 616 can document thearrangement of assets, interconnections between devices, the productbeing manufactured at a given facility, an industrial process performedby the assets, a category of industry of each industrial system (e.g.,automotive, oil and gas, food and drug, marine, textiles, etc.), orother relevant information. Among other functions, this data can beaccessed by technical support personnel during a support session so thatparticulars of the customer's unique system and device configurationscan be obtained without reliance on the customer to possess completeknowledge of their assets.

As an example, a given industrial facility can include a packaging line(e.g., the system), which in turn can comprise a number of individualassets (e.g., a filler, a labeler, a capper, a palletizer, etc.). Eachasset can comprise a number of devices (e.g., controllers, variablefrequency drives, HMIs, etc.). Using an architecture similar to thatdepicted in, for example, FIG. 1, 2, 3, or 4, the backup system 602 ormodeler system 604 can collect industrial data from the individualdevices during operation and can classify the data in the customer datastore 608 according to the aforementioned classifications. Note thatsome data may be duplicated across more than one class. For example, aprocess variable classified under process data 612 also can be relevantto the asset-level view of the system represented by the asset data 614.Accordingly, such process variables can be classified under bothclasses. Moreover, subsets of data in one classification can be derived,determined, or inferred based on data under another classification. Forexample, subsets of system data 616 that can characterize certain systembehaviors can be derived, determined, or inferred based on a long-termanalysis of data in the lower-level classifications.

In addition to maintaining the data classes (e.g., 610, 612, 614, 616),each customer data store also can maintain a customer model 618 that cancontain data specific to a given industrial entity or customer. Thecustomer model 618 can contain customer-specific information andpreferences, which can be leveraged by (e.g., used by) the backup system602 or modeler system 604 to facilitate backing up information relatingto the industrial automation system, performing other backup-relatedservices, generating or updating a model of an industrial automationsystem, generating a simulation model of an industrial automationsystem, performing simulation operations using simulation models, and/orperforming other operations in connection with the industrial automationsystem, etc. Example information that can be maintained in the customermodel 618 can comprise a client identifier, client preferences orrequirements with regard to production or work orders associated with anindustrial automation system, client contact information specifyingwhich plant personnel are to be notified in response to results of aresponse of the industrial automation system to a user interaction withan associated model, notification preferences that can specify how plantpersonnel are to be notified (e.g., email, mobile phone, text message,etc.), service contracts that are active between the customer and thetechnical support entity, and other such information. The backup system602 or modeler system 604 can marry (e.g., associate, link, unite, map,etc.) data collected for each customer with the corresponding customermodel 618 for identification and event handling purposes.

As noted above, industrial data can be migrated (e.g., communicated)from industrial devices to the cloud platform (e.g., comprising thebackup system 602 or modeler system 604) using cloud gateway components.To this end, some devices can include integrated cloud gateways that candirectly interface each device to the cloud platform. Additionally oralternatively, some configurations can utilize a cloud proxy device thatcan collect industrial data from multiple devices associated with theindustrial automation systems (e.g., 606 ₁, 606 ₂, 606 _(N)) and cansend (e.g., transmit) the data to the cloud platform. Such a cloud proxycan comprise a dedicated data collection device, such as a proxy serverthat can share a network (e.g., communication network) with theindustrial devices. Additionally or alternatively, the cloud proxy canbe a peer industrial device that can collect data from other industrialdevices.

FIGS. 8 and 9 depict block diagrams of example systems 800 and 900,respectively, illustrating respective techniques that can facilitatemigrating industrial data to the cloud platform via proxy devices forclassification and analysis by a backup system (e.g., comprising abackup component) and a modeler system (e.g., comprising a modelercomponent), in accordance with various aspects and implementations ofthe disclosed subject matter. FIG. 8 depicts the system 800 that can beconfigured to comprise an industrial device that can act or operate as acloud proxy for other industrial devices of an industrial automationsystem. The industrial automation system can comprise a plurality ofindustrial devices, including industrial device₁ 806 ₁, industrialdevice₂ 806 ₂, industrial device₃ 806 ₃, and/or (up through) industrialdevice_(N) 806 _(N), that collectively can monitor and/or control one ormore controlled processes 802. The industrial devices 806 ₁, 806 ₂, 806₃, and/or (up through) 806 _(N) respectively can generate and/or collectprocess data relating to control of the controlled process(es) 802. Forindustrial controllers such as PLCs or other automation controllers,this can include collecting data from telemetry devices connected to anindustrial controller's I/O, generating data internally based onmeasured process values, etc.

In the configuration depicted in FIG. 8, industrial device₁ 806 ₁ canact, operate, or function as a proxy for industrial devices 806 ₂, 806₃, and/or (up through) 806 _(N), whereby the data 814 from devices 806₂, 806 ₃, and/or (up through) 806 _(N) can be sent (e.g., transmitted)to the cloud via proxy industrial device₁ 806 ₁. Industrial devices 806₂, 806 ₃, and/or (up through) 806 _(N) can deliver their respective data814 to the proxy industrial device₁ 806 ₁ over the plant network orbackplane 812 (e.g., a Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) network or othersuitable network protocol). Using such a configuration, as desired, oneindustrial device can be interfaced to the cloud platform (via cloudgateway component 808). In some embodiments, the cloud gateway component808 can perform preprocessing on the gathered data prior to migratingthe data to the cloud platform (e.g., time stamping, filtering,formatting, normalizing, summarizing, compressing, etc.). The collectedand processed data can be pushed (e.g., transmitted) to the cloudplatform as cloud data 804 via cloud gateway component 808. Oncemigrated to the cloud platform, the cloud-based backup system or modelersystem can classify the data according to the example classificationsdescribed herein and/or can utilize the data to facilitate performingvarious operations relating to backing up information relating to theindustrial automation system, performing other backup-related servicesor operations, generating or updating models of industrial automationsystems, or performing other cloud-based service or operations.

While the proxy device illustrated in FIG. 8 is depicted as anindustrial device that itself can perform monitoring, tracking, and/orcontrolling of a portion of controlled process(es) 802, other types ofdevices also can be configured to serve as cloud proxies for multipleindustrial devices according to one or more implementations of thedisclosed subject matter. For example, FIG. 9 illustrates an examplesystem 900 that can comprise a firewall box 912 that can serve as acloud proxy for a set of industrial devices 906 ₁, 906 ₂, and/or (upthrough) 906 _(N). The firewall box 912 can act as a networkinfrastructure device that can allow the plant network 916 to access anoutside network such as the Internet, while also providing firewallprotection that can prevent unauthorized access to the plant network 916from the Internet. In addition to these firewall functions, the firewallbox 912 can include a cloud gateway component 908 that can interface thefirewall box 912 with one or more cloud-based services (e.g.,backup-related services, model-related services, data collectionservices, data storage services, etc.). In a similar manner to the proxyindustrial device 806 ₁ of FIG. 8, the firewall box 912 of FIG. 9 cancollect industrial data 914 from an industrial automation systemincluding industrial device₁ 906 ₁, industrial device₂ 906 ₂, and/or (upthrough) industrial device_(N) 906 _(N), which can monitor and controlrespective portions of controlled process(es) 902. Firewall box 912 caninclude a cloud gateway component 908 that can apply appropriatepreprocessing to the gathered industrial data 914 prior to pushing(e.g., communicating) the data to the cloud-based backup system ormodeler system as cloud data 904. Firewall box 912 can allow industrialdevices 906 ₁, 906 ₂, and/or (up through) 906 _(N) to interact with thecloud platform without directly exposing the industrial devices to theInternet.

In some embodiments, the cloud gateway component 808 of FIG. 8 or cloudgateway component 908 of FIG. 9 can tag the collected industrial data(e.g., 814 or 914) with contextual metadata prior to pushing the data ascloud data (e.g., 804 or 904) to the cloud platform. Such contextualmetadata can include, for example, a time stamp, a location of thedevice at the time the data was generated, or other contextualinformation. In another example, some cloud-aware devices can comprisesmart devices capable of determining their own context within the plantor enterprise environment. Such devices can determine their locationwithin a hierarchical plant context or device topology. Data generatedby such devices can adhere to a hierarchical plant model that can definemultiple hierarchical levels of an industrial enterprise (e.g., aworkcell level, a line level, an area level, a site level, an enterpriselevel, etc.), such that the data can be identified (e.g., by the backupsystem or modeler system) in terms of these hierarchical levels. Thiscan allow a common terminology to be used across an entire industrialenterprise to identify devices and their associated data. Cloud-basedapplications and services that backup information relating to, or modelan enterprise according to, such an organizational hierarchy canrepresent industrial controllers, devices, machines, or processes asdata structures (e.g., type instances) within this organizationalhierarchy to provide context for data generated by respective deviceswithin the enterprise relative to the enterprise as a whole. Such aconvention can replace the flat name structure that is employed by someindustrial applications.

In some embodiments, the cloud gateway component 808 of FIG. 8 or cloudgateway component 908 of FIG. 9 can comprise uni-directional “data only”cloud gateways that can be configured to only move data from thepremises (e.g., industrial facility) to the cloud platform.Alternatively, the cloud gateway components 808 and 908 can comprisebi-directional “data and configuration” gateways that additionally canbe configured to receive configuration or instruction data from servicesrunning on the cloud platform. Some cloud gateway components can utilizestore-and-forward technology that can allow the gathered industrial data(e.g., 814 or 914) to be temporarily stored locally on storageassociated with the cloud gateway component (e.g., 808 or 908) in theevent that communication between a cloud gateway component and the cloudplatform is disrupted. In such events, the cloud gateway component(e.g., 808 or 908) can forward (e.g., communicate) the stored data tothe cloud platform when the communication link is re-established.

To ensure a rich and descriptive set of data for analysis purposes, thecloud-based modeler system or virtualization system can collect devicedata in accordance with one or more standardized device models. To thisend, a standardized device model can be developed for each industrialdevice. Device models can profile the device data that is available tobe collected and maintained by the modeler system or virtualizationsystem.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example device model 1000according to various aspects and implementations of the disclosedsubject matter. In the illustrated example model 1000, the device model1006 can be associated with a cloud-aware industrial device 1002 (e.g.,a programmable logic controller, a variable frequency drive, an HMI, avision camera, a barcode marking system, etc.). As a cloud-aware device,the industrial device 1002 can be configured to automatically detect andcommunicate with the cloud platform 1008 upon installation at a plantfacility, simplifying integration with existing cloud-based datastorage, analysis, and applications (e.g., as performed by thevirtualization system described herein). When added to an existingindustrial automation system, the industrial device 1002 can communicatewith the cloud platform and can send identification and configurationinformation in the form of the device model 1006 to the cloud platform1008. The device model 1006 can be received by the modeler system 1010(or backup system (not shown in FIG. 10)), which can update thecustomer's device data 1014 based on the device model 1006. In this way,the modeler system 1010 (or backup system) can leverage the device model1006 to facilitate integrating the new industrial device 1002 into thegreater system as a whole. This integration can include the modelersystem 1010 (or backup system) updating cloud-based applications orservices to recognize the new industrial device 1002, adding the newindustrial device 1002 to a dynamically updated data model of thecustomer's industrial enterprise or plant, modifying a model tointegrate, incorporate, or include a model of the new industrial device1002 based at least in part on the identification and configurationinformation (or other data), determining or predicting a response of themodified industrial automation system based at least in part on amodified model or modified simulation model that integrates the newindustrial device 1002, making other devices on the plant floor aware ofthe new industrial device 1002, or other desired integration functions.Once deployed, some data items comprising the device model 1006 can becollected and monitored by the modeler system 1010 (or backup system) ona real-time or near real-time basis.

The device model 1006 can comprise such information as a deviceidentifier (e.g., model and serial number) associated with theindustrial device 1002, status information for the industrial device1002, a currently installed firmware version associated with theindustrial device 1002, device setup data associated with the industrialdevice 1002, warranty specifications associated with the industrialdevice 1002, calculated and/or anticipated performance indicators (e.g.,KPIs) associated with the industrial device 1002 (e.g., mean timebetween failures), health and diagnostic information associated with theindustrial device 1002, device documentation, or other such parameters.

In addition to maintaining individual customer-specific data stores foreach industrial enterprise, the virtualization system (e.g., cloud-basedvirtualization system) also can feed (e.g., transmit) sets of customerdata to a global data storage (referred to herein as cloud-based datastore or Big Data for Manufacturing (BDFM) data store) for collectivebig data analysis in the cloud platform (e.g., by the virtualizationsystem). FIG. 11 presents a block diagram of an example system 1100 thatcan facilitate collection of data from devices and assets associatedwith respective industrial automation systems for storage in cloud-baseddata storage, in accordance with various aspects and implementations ofthe disclosed subject matter. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the collectioncomponent 510 of the backup system (e.g., as facilitated by theinterface component 512) can collect data from devices and assetscomprising respective different industrial automation systems, such asindustrial automation system₁ 1106 ₁, industrial automation system₂ 1106₂, and/or (up through) industrial automation system_(N) 1106 _(N), forstorage in a cloud-based BDFM data store 1102. In some embodiments, datamaintained in the BDFM data store 1102 can be collected anonymously withthe consent of the respective customers. For example, customers canenter into a service agreement with a technical support entity wherebythe customer can agree to have their device and asset data collected bythe backup system or modeler system in exchange for backup-related,model-related, or other services or a credit towards backup-related,model-related, or other services. The data maintained in the BDFM datastore 1102 can include all or portions of the classifiedcustomer-specific data described in connection with FIG. 6, as well asadditional data (e.g., derived, determined, or inferred data). Thebackup component 500 (e.g., aggregator component 504, backup managementcomponent 514, etc.) or another component of the backup system ormodeler system can organize the collected data stored in the BDFM datastore 1102 according to device type, system type, application type,applicable industry, or other relevant categories. The backup component500 can analyze data stored in the resulting multi-industry,multi-customer data store (e.g., BDFM data store 1102) to facilitatelearning, determining, or identifying industry-specific,device-specific, and/or application-specific trends, patterns,thresholds (e.g., device-related thresholds, network-related thresholds,etc.), industrial-automation-system interrelationships between devicesor assets, etc., associated with the industrial automation systemsassociated with the cloud platform. In general, the backup component 500can perform a data analysis (e.g., big data analysis) on data (e.g., themulti-industrial enterprise data) maintained (e.g., stored in) the BDFMdata store 1102 to facilitate backing up (e.g., storing on the cloudplatform), learning, determining, identifying, characterizing,virtualizing, simulating, and/or emulating operationalindustrial-automation-system interrelationships, thresholds, trends, orpatterns associated with industrial automation systems as a function ofindustry type, application type, equipment in use, asset configurations,device configuration settings, or other types of variables.

For example, it can be known that a given industrial asset (e.g., adevice, a configuration of device, a machine, etc.) can be used acrossdifferent industries for different types of industrial applications.Accordingly, the backup component 500 can identify a subset of theglobal data stored in BDFM data store 1102 relating to the asset orasset type, and perform analysis on this subset of data to determine howthe asset or asset type performs over time and under various types ofoperating conditions for each of multiple different industries or typesof industrial applications. The backup component 500 also can determinethe operational behavior of the asset or asset type over time and undervarious types of operating conditions for each of different sets ofoperating constraints or parameters (e.g. different ranges of operatingtemperatures or pressures, different recipe ingredients or ingredienttypes, etc.). The backup component 500 can leverage (e.g., use) a largeamount of historical data relating to the asset or asset type that hasbeen gathered (e.g., collected and/or aggregated) from many differentindustrial automation systems to facilitate learning or determiningcommon operating characteristics of many diverse configurations ofindustrial assets or asset types at a relatively high degree ofgranularity and under many different operating contexts. The backupcomponent 500 can use the learned or determined operatingcharacteristics relating to the industrial assets or asset types tofacilitate restoring industrial-automation-system-related data (e.g.,lost model data or other backup data), configuring or programming all ora portion of an industrial automation system using backup information(e.g., model data or other backup data), standardizing industrial plantconfigurations and operations, translating model data or other backupdata in accordance with a desired format or platform), performing otherbackup-related services, generating, updating, and/or using modeledversions or virtualized versions of the industrial assets or asset typeswhen employed in an industrial automation system to facilitategenerating, updating, and/or using a model of an industrial automationcomponent or a virtualized industrial automation system that can bebased at least in part on the modeled or virtualized versions of theindustrial assets or asset types.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a cloud-based system 1200 thatcan employ a backup system and modeler system to facilitate performingor providing backup-related services and model-related servicesassociated with industrial automation systems, in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. Asdisclosed herein, the backup system 1202 and modeler system 1204 cancollect, maintain, and monitor customer-specific data (e.g. device data610, process data 612, asset data 614, and system data 616) relating toone or more industrial assets 1206 of an industrial enterprise. Inaddition, the backup system 1202 and modeler system 1204 can collect andorganize industrial data anonymously (with customer consent) frommultiple industrial enterprises, and can store such industrial data in aBDFM data store 1208 for collective analysis by the backup system 1202and/or modeler system 1204, for example, as described herein.

The backup system 1202 and modeler system 1204 also can collect productresource information and maintain (e.g., store) the product resourceinformation in the cloud-based product resource data store 1210. Ingeneral, the product resource data store 1210 can maintain up-to-dateinformation relating to specific industrial devices or other vendorproducts in connection with industrial automation systems. Product datastored in the product resource data store 1210 can be administered bythe backup system 1202 and/or modeler system 1204 and/or one or moreproduct vendors or OEMs. Exemplary device-specific data maintained bythe product resource data store 1210 can include product serial numbers,most recent firmware revisions, preferred device configuration settingsand/or software for a given type of industrial application, or othersuch vendor-provided information.

The system depicted in FIG. 12 can provide backup-related services,model-related services, and/or other cloud-based services to subscribingcustomers (e.g., owners of industrial assets 1206). For example,customers can enter an agreement with a product vendor or technicalsupport entity to allow their system data to be gathered anonymously andfed into (e.g., communicated to and stored in) the BDFM data store 1208,and this thereby can expand the store of global data available forcollective analysis by the backup system 1202 and/or modeler system1204. In exchange, the vendor or technical support entity can agree toprovide backup-related services, model-related services, and/or otherservices to the customer (e.g., provide real-time or near real-timesystem monitoring; real-time or near real-time backing up of anindustrial automation system; real-time or near real-time generation,updating, and/or use of a model or a virtualized industrial automationsystem associated with an industrial automation system, etc.).Alternatively, the customer can subscribe to one or more availablebackup-related services, model-related services or other cloud-basedservices that can be provided by the backup system 1202 and/or modelersystem 1204, and optionally can allow their system data to be maintainedin the BDFM data store 1208. In some embodiments, a customer can begiven an option to subscribe to backup-related services, model-relatedservices, or other cloud-based services without permitting their data tobe stored in the BDFM data store 1208 for collective analysis with datafrom other systems (e.g., industrial automation systems). In such cases,the customer's data will only be maintained as customer data (e.g., incustomer data store 608) for the purposes of real-time or near real-timegeneration, updating, and/or use of backup information, a model, or avirtualized industrial automation system associated with an industrialautomation system relating to that particular customer, and thecollected customer data will be analyzed in connection with data storedin the BDFM data store 1208 and the product resource data store 1210without that customer data being migrated for storage in the BDFM datastore 1208 for long-term storage and analysis. In another exemplaryagreement, customers can be offered a discount on backup-relatedservices or model-related services in exchange for allowing their systemdata to be anonymously migrated to the BDFM data store 1208 forcollective analysis by the backup system 1202 or modeler system 1204.

In accordance with various aspects, the customer-specific data caninclude device and/or asset level faults and alarms, process variablevalues (e.g., temperatures, pressures, product counts, cycle times,etc.), calculated or anticipated performance indicators (e.g., KPIs) forthe customer's various assets, indicators of system behavior over time,and other such information. The customer-specific data also can includedocumentation of firmware versions, configuration settings, and softwarein use on respective devices of the customer's industrial assets.Moreover, the backup system 1202 or modeler system 1204 can take intoconsideration customer information encoded in customer model 618, whichcan have a bearing on inferences made by the backup system 1202 ormodeler system 1204 based at least in part on the analysis (e.g., bigdata analysis) stored in the BDFM data store 1208. For example, customermodel 618 may indicate a type of industry that is the focus of thecustomer's business (e.g., automotive, food and drug, oil and gas,fibers and textiles, power generation, marine, etc.). Knowledge of thecustomer's industry can facilitate enabling the backup system 1202 ormodeler system 1204 to correlate the customer-specific data with datarelating to similar systems and applications in the same industry, asdocumented by the data stored in the BDFM data store 1208.

Taken together, customer-specific data and a customer model (e.g., 618)can facilitate accurately modeling the customer's industrial enterpriseat a highly granular level, from high-level system behavior over timedown to the device and software level. The analyzing (e.g., by thebackup system 1202 or modeler system 1204) of this customer-specificdata in view of global industry-specific and application-specific trendslearned via analysis of data stored in the BDFM data store 1208, as wellas vendor-provided device information maintained in the product resourcedata store 1210, can facilitate real-time or near real-time performanceof other backup-related services (e.g., restoringindustrial-automation-system-related data (e.g., lost model data orother backup data) for an industrial automation system, configuring orprogramming all or a portion of an industrial automation system usingbackup information (e.g., model data or other backup data),standardizing industrial plant configurations and operations,translating model data or other backup data in accordance with a desiredformat or platform), real-time or near real-time generation, updating,and/or use of a model or a virtualized industrial automation systemassociated with an industrial automation system to facilitate real-timeor near real-time remote interaction with (e.g., monitoring, tracking,controlling, etc., of) the industrial automation system using the modelor the virtualized industrial automation system (e.g., based at least inpart on user interactions with the virtualized industrial automationsystem by a user via a communication device).

In some implementations, the system 1200 (e.g., via the collectioncomponent, backup system 1202, or modeler system 1204) also can receive,collect, or capture extrinsic data 1212 from one or more sources (e.g.,external data sources). The backup system 1202 or modeler system 1204can use or leverage the extrinsic data 1212 received, collected, orcaptured from sources external to a customer's industrial enterprise,wherein the extrinsic data 1212 can have relevance to operation of thecustomer's industrial automation system(s). Example extrinsic data 1212can include, for example, energy cost data, material cost andavailability data, transportation schedule information from companiesthat provide product transportation services for the customer, marketindicator data, web site traffic statistics, information relating toknown information security breaches or threats, or other informationrelevant to the operation of the customer's industrial automationsystem(s). The backup system 1202 or modeler system 1204 can retrieveextrinsic data 1212 from substantially any data source, such as, e.g.,servers or other data storage devices linked to the Internet,cloud-based storage that maintains extrinsic data of interest, or othersources. The backup system 1202 or modeler system 1204 can analyze theextrinsic data 1212 and/or other data (e.g., user-related dataassociated with users (e.g., operators, managers, technicians, otherworkers) associated with the industrial automation system(s), devicedata 610, process data 612, asset data 614, system data 616, etc.) tofacilitate performing backup-related, model-related, or other servicesin connection with the industrial automation system(s).

The aforementioned systems and/or devices have been described withrespect to interaction between several components. It should beappreciated that such systems and components can include thosecomponents or sub-components specified therein, some of the specifiedcomponents or sub-components, and/or additional components.Sub-components could also be implemented as components communicativelycoupled to other components rather than included within parentcomponents. Further yet, one or more components and/or sub-componentsmay be combined into a single component providing aggregatefunctionality. The components may also interact with one or more othercomponents not specifically described herein for the sake of brevity,but known by those of skill in the art.

FIGS. 13-15 illustrate various methods in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the subject application. While, for purposes ofsimplicity of explanation, the one or more methods shown herein areshown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood andappreciated that the disclosed subject matter is not limited by theorder of acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in adifferent order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown anddescribed herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understandand appreciate that a method could alternatively be represented as aseries of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram.Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodin accordance with the disclosed subject matter. Furthermore,interaction diagram(s) may represent methods, in accordance with thesubject disclosure when disparate entities enact disparate portions ofthe methods. Further yet, two or more of the disclosed example methodscan be implemented in combination with each other, to accomplish one ormore features or advantages described herein.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 1300 that canfacilitate backing up, on a cloud platform, information associated withan industrial automation system that is associated with an industrialenterprise to facilitate restoring all or a portion of the informationto the industrial automation system of all or a portion of suchinformation is lost by the industrial automation system and/orconfiguring or programming another industrial automation system, inaccordance with various implementations and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter. The method 1300 can be implemented by a backup systemthat can comprise a backup component that can comprise a collectioncomponent, a data store, a backup management component, and/or a modelercomponent. All or a desired portion of the backup component can resideon a cloud platform.

At 1302, a set of industrial-automation-system-related data associatedwith an industrial automation system can be collected for backup andstorage on a cloud platform. The collection component (e.g., cloud-basedcollection component) can obtain, collect, or otherwise receiveindustrial-automation-system-related data and can store such data in acloud-based data store, for example, to use such data as backup (e.g.,hot plant backup) to restore configuration information, programminginformation, or other information associated with the industrialautomation system to the industrial automation system, or portionthereof, and/or to configure or program another industrial automationsystem using such data. The collection component also can receive otherdata, including other industrial-automation-system-related data fromanother (e.g., a related) industrial automation system or one or moreextrinsic data sources.

The set of industrial-automation-system-related data can comprise, forexample, device-related data (e.g., industrial device-related data,network device-related data), asset-related data, process-related data(e.g., industrial-automation-process-related data), data relating tousers associated with the industrial automation system (e.g., roleinformation, user preferences, etc.), and/or otherindustrial-automation-system-related data associated with an industrialenterprise. The industrial-automation-system-related data can bemigrated (e.g., communicated) to the cloud platform using one or morecloud gateways (e.g., communication gateway components) that can serveas uni-directional or bi-directional communication interfaces betweenindustrial devices or assets of the industrial automation system and thecloud platform. The device-related data, asset-related data,process-related data, and/or other industrial-automation-system-relateddata can be stored in the cloud-based data store in association withidentification information, such as, for example, a customer identifierand other customer-specific information.

At 1304, all or a portion of the set ofindustrial-automation-system-related data and/or a model, which cancorrespond to an industrial automation system, that can be generatedbased at least in part on the set ofindustrial-automation-system-related data and/or other data stored in acloud-based data store, can be communicated to the industrial automationsystem or another industrial automation system to facilitate restoring(e.g., re-configuring, re-programming) the industrial automation systemor facilitate configuring or programming the other industrial automationsystem. The backup management component can access the cloud-based datastore and can receive (e.g., collect, obtain, etc.) the set ofindustrial-automation-system-related data from the cloud-based datastore. In some implementations, the modeler component also can accesssuch data, analyze the set of industrial-automation-system-related datato generate analysis results, and generate, manage, modify, and/orupdate a model of the industrial automation system based at least inpart on the results of the analysis of the set ofindustrial-automation-system-related data, as more fully disclosedherein. The backup component can communicate all or a portion of the setof industrial-automation-system-related data and/or the model (e.g.,model data of the model) to the industrial automation system or theother industrial automation system to facilitate restoring (e.g.,re-configuring, re-programming) the industrial automation system orfacilitate configuring or programming the other industrial automationsystem.

FIG. 14 depicts a flow diagram of a example method 1400 that canfacilitate backing up, on a cloud platform, information associated withan industrial automation system that is associated with an industrialenterprise to facilitate generating a model of the industrial automationsystem for use to facilitate restoring all or a portion of theinformation to the industrial automation system if all or a portion ofsuch information is lost by the industrial automation system and/orconfiguring or programming another industrial automation system, inaccordance with various implementations and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter. The method 1400 can be implemented by a backup systemthat can comprise a backup component that can comprise a collectioncomponent, a data store, a backup management component, and/or a modelercomponent. All or a desired portion of the backup component can resideon a cloud platform.

At 1402, a set of data (e.g., industrial-automation-system-related data)relating to a set of industrial automation systems comprising one ormore industrial automation systems can be collected for backup andstorage on a cloud platform. The collection component can collect theset of data relating to the set of industrial automation systems. Theset of data can comprise data relating to industrial devices, industrialprocesses, other industrial assets, and/or network-related devices,etc., associated with the one or more industrial automation systems ofthe set of industrial automation systems. The set of industrialautomation systems can be associated with one or more industrialenterprises.

Respective subsets of the data can be obtained from respectiveindustrial devices, industrial processes, other industrial assets,and/or network-related devices via one or more cloud gateway devices(e.g., respective cloud gateways integrated with the respective devices,processes, assets, etc.). For instance, the backup management componentand/or model management component can discover the respective industrialdevices, industrial processes, other industrial assets, and/ornetwork-related devices in the industrial automation system, and therespective industrial devices, industrial processes, other industrialassets, and/or network-related devices can provide their respectivesubsets of data via the one or more cloud gateway devices, in responseto being polled (e.g., queried) by the backup management componentand/or model management component.

At 1404, the set of data can be stored in a data store. The backupcomponent and/or collection component can facilitate storing the set ofdata in the data store, wherein the data store can be a cloud-based datastore located on the cloud platform.

At 1406, the set of data can be analyzed. The backup component ormodeler component of or associated with the backup component can accessthe cloud-based data store and can retrieve, obtain, read the set ofdata from the cloud-based data store. The modeler component can analyzethe set of data (e.g., perform big data analysis on the set of data) tofacilitate generating, managing, and/or updating a model that cancorrespond to, backup, and interface or interact with, the industrialautomation system. The modeler component can analyze the set of data tofacilitate identifying or determining industrial devices, industrialprocesses, operating systems, software (e.g., software type, softwareversion, software functions, software manufacturer, etc.), firmware(e.g., firmware type, firmware version, firmware functions, firmwaremanufacturer, etc.), network-related devices, etc., associated with theindustrial automation system; identifying or determining configurationof the industrial devices, industrial processes, operating systems,software, firmware, and network-related devices, including thefunctional relationships or connections between respective industrialdevices, industrial processes, operating systems, software, firmware,and network-related devices; respective properties or characteristicsassociated with the respective industrial devices, industrial processes,operating systems, software, firmware, and network-related devices; etc.

At 1408, a model that can correspond to (e.g., be a replication of) theindustrial automation system, comprising the industrial devices,industrial processes, operating systems, software, firmware,network-related devices, etc., can be generated based at least in parton the results of the analysis of the set of data. The modeler componentcan generate the model associated with the industrial automation system,including generating respectively modeled industrial devices, modeledindustrial processes, modeled industrial assets, modeled network-relateddevices (e.g., modeled communication devices, computers, routers, etc.),modeled software and/or firmware configurations associated with theindustrial devices and/or other components of the industrial automationsystem, modeled functional and communicative relationships betweenindustrial devices, assets, or other components (e.g., modeledcommunication connections or conditions between industrial devices,types of connections between industrial devices, modeled communicationconnections between industrial devices and network-related devices,etc.), modeled mechanical or process properties or characteristicsassociated with industrial devices (e.g., modeled mechanical latency,modeled process cycle times, modeled operating schedules, etc.,associated with industrial devices), modeled properties orcharacteristics associated with the network-related devices (e.g.,modeled communication conditions, modeled total bandwidth, modeledavailable bandwidth, modeled wireless communications, modeled wirelinecommunications, etc., associated with the network-related devices),and/or other aspects or features of the industrial automation system.

At 1410, the model (e.g., model data of the model) of the industrialautomation system, or other backed-up information associated with theindustrial automation system, can be provided (e.g., communicated,presented), for example, to the industrial automation system, anotherindustrial automation system, or a communication device of a user tofacilitate restoring all or a portion of the information (e.g.,configuration information, programming information, parameter settinginformation, other information) to the industrial automation system, forexample, if all or a portion of such information is lost by theindustrial automation system and/or configuring or programming anotherindustrial automation system. The backup component can provide themodel, or other backed-up information associated with the industrialautomation system, to the industrial automation system, the otherindustrial automation system, or the communication device of the uservia a communication network (e.g., a communication network comprising anIP-based network (e.g., Internet, intranet), a mobile core network,and/or a local area network (LAN)). The industrial automation system, orportion (e.g., industrial device or other asset) thereof, to restoreinformation (e.g., configuration information, programming information,parameter setting information, other information) to the industrialautomation system, or portion thereof, and/or the other industrialautomation system can be configured, programmed, set, etc., based atleast in part on the model or backed-up information, wherein all or aportion of the other industrial automation system can be the same as orsimilar to the industrial automation system.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 1500 that cantranslate information relating to an industrial asset to a format thatis compatible with the industrial asset, in accordance with variousimplementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. Themethod 1500 can be implemented by a backup system that can comprise abackup component, wherein the backup component can comprise or beassociated with a collection component, a data store, a backupmanagement component, and/or a modeler component, etc. All or a desiredportion of the backup system can reside on a cloud platform.

At 1502, information relating to a compatible format for configuration,programming, parameter setting, etc., of an industrial asset of theindustrial automation system can be received, for example, from theindustrial asset or another source. The backup management component canreceive information relating to a compatible format for configuration ofthe industrial asset from the industrial asset (e.g., via an associatedcloud gateway device) or another source (e.g., extrinsic source, such asthe supplier or manufacturer of the industrial asset). The informationcan comprise information indicating what format(s) (e.g., computerlanguage or code format is supported, a manufacturer, type, or model ofthe industrial asset, a platform(s) (e.g., operational platform(s)) thatis supported by the industrial asset, and/or other format-relatedinformation.

At 1504, a compatible format for configuring, programming, parametersetting, etc., of the industrial asset can be determined. The backupmanagement component can analyze the received information relating tothe compatible format for configuration of the industrial asset. Basedat least in part on the analysis results, the model management componentcan determine or identify a compatible format for configuring,programming, and/or setting parameters for, etc., of the industrialasset.

At 1506, a model (e.g., model of the industrial asset), configurationinformation, programming information, parameter information, or otherinformation relating to the industrial asset can be retrieved from thedata store (e.g., cloud-based data store), wherein the retrieved model,configuration information, programming information, parameterinformation, or other information can be in an agnostic, standardized,or other format that can be different from the compatible formatdetermined for the industrial asset. The backup management component canretrieve the model, configuration information, programming information,parameter information, or other information, in the agnostic,standardized, or other different format, from the data store.

At 1508, the model, configuration information, programming information,parameter information, or other information in the agnostic,standardized, or different format can be analyzed in relation to thecompatible format for the industrial asset. The backup managementcomponent can analyze the retrieved model, configuration information,programming information, parameter information, or other information inrelation to the compatible format for the industrial asset to facilitatetranslating the retrieved model, configuration information, programminginformation, parameter information, or other information to thecompatible format.

At 1510, the retrieved model, configuration information, programminginformation, parameter information, or other information can betranslated from the agnostic, standardized, or other format to thecompatible format for the industrial asset based at least in part on theanalysis results. The backup management component can translate theretrieved model, configuration information, programming information,parameter information, or other information from the agnostic ordifferent format to the compatible format for the industrial asset basedat least in part on the analysis results.

At 1512, the translated model, configuration information, programminginformation, parameter information, or other information, in thecompatible format, can be communicated to the industrial asset tofacilitate configuration, programming, setting (e.g., of theparameters), etc., of the industrial asset. The backup managementcomponent can communicate the translated (e.g., converted) model,configuration information, programming information, parameterinformation, or other information, in the compatible format, to theindustrial asset in the industrial automation system. The industrialasset (e.g., via the associated cloud gateway device) can receivetranslated model, configuration information, programming information,parameter information, or other information, in the compatible format.The industrial asset can be configured, programmed, set, etc. (e.g., canconfigure, program, set itself) using the translated model,configuration information, programming information, parameterinformation, or other information, in the compatible format, tofacilitate desired operation of the industrial asset in the industrialautomation system. In other implementations, the translated model,configuration information, programming information, parameterinformation, or other information, in the compatible format, can becommunicated to another industrial asset or a communication device,wherein the other industrial asset or the communication device canconfigure, program, set, etc., the industrial asset using the translatedmodel, configuration information, programming information, parameterinformation, or other information.

Embodiments, systems, and components described herein, as well asindustrial automation or control systems and industrial automationenvironments in which various aspects set forth in the subjectspecification can be carried out, can include computer or networkcomponents such as servers, clients, programmable logic controllers(PLCs), automation controllers, communications modules, mobilecomputers, wireless components, control components and so forth whichare capable of interacting across a network. Computers and serversinclude one or more processors—electronic integrated circuits thatperform logic operations employing electric signals—configured toexecute instructions stored in media such as random access memory (RAM),read only memory (ROM), a hard drives, as well as removable memorydevices, which can include memory sticks, memory cards, flash drives,external hard drives, and so on.

Similarly, the term PLC or automation controller as used herein caninclude functionality that can be shared across multiple components,systems, and/or networks. As an example, one or more PLCs or automationcontrollers can communicate and cooperate with various network devicesacross the network. This can include substantially any type of control,communications module, computer, Input/Output (I/O) device, sensor,actuator, and human machine interface (HMI) that communicate via thenetwork, which includes control, automation, and/or public networks. ThePLC or automation controller can also communicate to and control variousother devices such as I/O modules including analog, digital,programmed/intelligent I/O modules, other programmable controllers,communications modules, sensors, actuators, output devices, and thelike.

The network can include public networks such as the internet, intranets,and automation networks such as control and information protocol (CIP)networks including DeviceNet, ControlNet, and Ethernet/IP. Othernetworks include Ethernet, DH/DH+, Remote I/O, Fieldbus, Modbus,Profibus, CAN, wireless networks, serial protocols, and so forth. Inaddition, the network devices can include various possibilities(hardware and/or software components). These include components such asswitches with virtual local area network (VLAN) capability, LANs, WANs,proxies, gateways, routers, firewalls, virtual private network (VPN)devices, servers, clients, computers, configuration tools, monitoringtools, and/or other devices.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIGS. 16 and 17 as well as the following discussion areintended to provide a brief, general description of a suitableenvironment in which the various aspects of the disclosed subject mattercan be implemented.

With reference to FIG. 16, an example environment 1600 for implementingvarious aspects of the aforementioned subject matter includes a computer1612. The computer 1612 includes a processing unit 1614, a system memory1616, and a system bus 1618. The system bus 1618 couples systemcomponents including, but not limited to, the system memory 1616 to theprocessing unit 1614. The processing unit 1614 can be any of variousavailable processors. Multi-core microprocessors and othermultiprocessor architectures also can be employed as the processing unit1614.

The system bus 1618 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus orexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, 8-bit bus, IndustrialStandard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), ExtendedISA (EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB),Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Universal Serial Bus (USB),Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association bus (PCMCIA), and Small Computer SystemsInterface (SCSI).

The system memory 1616 includes volatile memory 1620 and nonvolatilememory 1622. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basicroutines to transfer information between elements within the computer1612, such as during start-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory 1622. Byway of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory 1622 caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), or flashmemory. Volatile memory 1620 includes random access memory (RAM), whichacts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), anddirect Rambus RAM (DRRAM).

Computer 1612 also includes removable/non-removable,volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. FIG. 16 illustrates, forexample a disk storage 1624. Disk storage 1624 includes, but is notlimited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, floppy disk drive, tapedrive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-100 drive, flash memory card, or memorystick. In addition, disk storage 1624 can include storage mediaseparately or in combination with other storage media including, but notlimited to, an optical disk drive such as a compact disk ROM device(CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive), CD rewritable drive (CD-RWDrive) or a digital versatile disk ROM drive (DVD-ROM). To facilitateconnection of the disk storage 1624 to the system bus 1618, a removableor non-removable interface is typically used such as interface 1626.

It is to be appreciated that FIG. 16 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and the basic computer resources described insuitable operating environment 1600. Such software includes an operatingsystem 1628. Operating system 1628, which can be stored on disk storage1624, acts to control and allocate resources of the computer 1612.System applications 1630 take advantage of the management of resourcesby operating system 1628 through program modules 1632 and program data1634 stored either in system memory 1616 or on disk storage 1624. It isto be appreciated that one or more embodiments of the subject disclosurecan be implemented with various operating systems or combinations ofoperating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer 1612 throughinput device(s) 1636. Input devices 1636 include, but are not limitedto, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad,keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TVtuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and thelike. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit 1614through the system bus 1618 via interface port(s) 1638. Interfaceport(s) 1638 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, agame port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 1640 usesome of the same type of ports as input device(s) 1636. Thus, forexample, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer 1612, andto output information from computer 1612 to an output device 1640.Output adapters 1642 are provided to illustrate that there are someoutput devices 1640 like monitors, speakers, and printers, among otheroutput devices 1640, which require special adapters. The output adapters1642 include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and soundcards that provide a means of connection between the output device 1640and the system bus 1618. It should be noted that other devices and/orsystems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such asremote computer(s) 1644.

Computer 1612 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)1644. The remote computer(s) 1644 can be a personal computer, a server,a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance,a peer device or other common network node and the like, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to computer1612. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 1646 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 1644. Remote computer(s) 1644 islogically connected to computer 1612 through a network interface 1648and then physically connected via communication connection 1650. Networkinterface 1648 encompasses communication networks such as local-areanetworks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). LAN technologies includeFiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed DataInterface (CDDI), Ethernet/IEEE 802.3, Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 and thelike. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-pointlinks, circuit switching networks like Integrated Services DigitalNetworks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, andDigital Subscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s) 1650 refers to the hardware/softwareemployed to connect the network interface 1648 to the system bus 1618.While communication connection 1650 is shown for illustrative clarityinside computer 1612, it can also be external to computer 1612. Thehardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface 1648includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and externaltechnologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems,cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of a sample computing and/ornetworking environment 1700 with which the disclosed subject matter caninteract. The computing and/or networking environment 1700 can includeone or more clients 1702. The client(s) 1702 can be hardware and/orsoftware (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The computingand/or networking environment 1700 also can include one or more servers1704. The server(s) 1704 can also be hardware and/or software (e.g.,threads, processes, computing devices). The servers 1704 can housethreads to perform transformations by employing one or more embodimentsas described herein, for example. One possible communication between aclient 1702 and servers 1704 can be in the form of a data packet adaptedto be transmitted between two or more computer processes. The computingand/or networking environment 1700 can include a communication framework1706 that can be employed to facilitate communications between theclient(s) 1702 and the server(s) 1704. The client(s) 1702 are operablyconnected to one or more client data stores 1708 that can be employed tostore information local to the client(s) 1702. Similarly, the server(s)1704 are operably connected to one or more server data stores 1710 thatcan be employed to store information local to the servers 1704.

What has been described above includes examples of the disclosed subjectmatter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivablecombination of components or methods for purposes of describing thedisclosed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art mayrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of thedisclosed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the disclosedsubject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims.

In particular and in regard to the various functions performed by theabove described components, devices, circuits, systems and the like, theterms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., a functional equivalent), even though not structurallyequivalent to the disclosed structure, which performs the function inthe herein illustrated exemplary aspects of the disclosed subjectmatter. In this regard, it will also be recognized that the disclosedsubject matter includes a system as well as a computer-readable mediumhaving computer-executable instructions for performing the acts and/orevents of the various methods of the disclosed subject matter.

In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosed subject mattermay have been disclosed with respect to only one of severalimplementations, such feature may be combined with one or more otherfeatures of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageousfor any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent thatthe terms “includes,” and “including” and variants thereof are used ineither the detailed description or the claims, these terms are intendedto be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

It is to be appreciated and understood that components (e.g., modelercomponent, model management component, virtualization component,collection component, communication device, information providercomponent, processor component, data store, etc.), as described withregard to a particular system or method, can include the same or similarfunctionality as respective components (e.g., respectively namedcomponents or similarly named components) as described with regard toother systems or methods disclosed herein.

In this application, the word “exemplary” is used to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the wordexemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.

Various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as amethod, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programmingand/or engineering techniques. The term “article of manufacture” as usedherein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computerreadable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storagedevices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips . . . ), opticaldisks [e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD) . . . ],smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive . .. ).

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a memory that storescomputer-executable components; a processor, operatively coupled to thememory, that executes computer-executable components, thecomputer-executable components comprising: a collection componentconfigured to collect a set of industrial data from a set of devices ofan industrial automation system and store the set of industrial data ina data store on a cloud platform to facilitate backing up the industrialautomation system on the cloud platform; and a backup componentconfigured to communicate at least a subset of compatible configurationinformation or a subset of compatible model data of a model of theindustrial automation system to the industrial automation system tofacilitate reconfiguring at least a portion of the industrial automationsystem, wherein the subset of compatible configuration information isdetermined, and the model is generated, based at least in part on ananalysis of the set of industrial data.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein at least one of the collection component, the backup component,or the data store are part of a cloud platform.
 3. The system of claim2, wherein the computer-executable components further comprise aninterface component configured to interface at least one of thecollection component, the backup component, or the data store of thecloud platform with the industrial automation system via a cloud gatewaycomponent of the industrial automation system to facilitatecommunication of the set of industrial data from the industrialautomation system to at least one of the collection component, thebackup component, or the data store.
 4. The system of claim 3, whereinan industrial device of the industrial automation system is integratedwith or associated with the cloud gateway component to facilitatecommunication of a subset of the set of industrial data relating to theindustrial device from the industrial device to at least one of thecollection component, the backup component, or the data store.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable components furthercomprise a modeler component configured to generate the model of theindustrial automation system corresponding to the industrial automationsystem, based on a result of the analysis of the set of industrial data,to facilitate the backing up of the industrial automation system.
 6. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein the modeler component is further configuredto generate an industrial-device model of an industrial device of theindustrial automation system based at least in part on the result of theanalysis of a subset of the set of industrial data to facilitate thebacking up of the industrial device.
 7. The system of claim 6, whereinthe subset of industrial data comprises at least one of a subset ofmodel data of a pre-deployed model that models characteristics andoperation of the industrial device, identifier information thatfacilitates identification of the industrial device, informationrelating to one or more relationships between the industrial device andone or more other industrial devices or network-related devicesassociated with the industrial automation system, or informationrelating to the one or more other industrial devices or network-relateddevices.
 8. The system of claim 5, wherein the modeler component isfurther configured to generate a product model of a product relating tothe industrial automation system based at least in part on productdesign information relating to the product, wherein the product model isstored in the data store on the cloud platform.
 9. The system of claim8, wherein the backup component communicates the product model to aproduct generator component to facilitate generation of at least oneproduct by the product generator component based at least in part on theproduct model.
 10. The system of claim 5, wherein thecomputer-executable components further comprise a discovery componentconfigured to discover or detect a change to the industrial automationsystem.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the change to the industrialautomation system comprises at least one of an addition of an industrialdevice or a network-related device to the industrial automation system,a replacement of a first industrial device with a second industrialdevice in the industrial automation system, a replacement of a firstnetwork-related device with a second network-related device in theindustrial automation system, a connection modification of a connectionassociated with the first industrial device or the first network-relateddevice, a parameter modification of a parameter associated with thefirst industrial device or the first network-related device, or asoftware or firmware modification of software or firmware associatedwith the first industrial device or the first network-related device.12. The system of claim 10, wherein, in response to the change to theindustrial automation system, the modeler component modifies the modelof the industrial automation system to model the change to theindustrial automation system and generates an updated model of theindustrial automation system based at least in part on another analysisof change-related industrial data obtained from the industrialautomation system in connection with the change.
 13. The system of claim1, wherein the backup component receives a set of legacy industrialdevice data from a communication device that obtains the set of legacyindustrial device data from a legacy industrial device that is notassociated with a cloud gateway component, wherein the legacy industrialdevice is part of the industrial automation system.
 14. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the legacy industrial device data comprises one ormore visual images of the legacy industrial device captured by thecommunication device, or device information derived from the one or morevisual images of the legacy industrial device captured by thecommunication device.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein at least oneof the backup component or the communication device employs a recognizertechnique or an optical character recognition technique to facilitatederiving at least a portion of the legacy industrial device data fromthe one or more visual images.
 16. The system of claim 1, wherein thebackup component is further configured to process the set of industrialdata to generate a set of configuration information in an agnostic orstandardized format or process a set of model data of the model tostructure the set of model data in an agnostic or standardized format,and the data store is further configured to store the set ofconfiguration information in the agnostic or standardized format or theset of model data in an agnostic or standardized format.
 17. The systemof claim 16, wherein at least one of a subset of the set ofconfiguration information or a subset of the set of model data isassociated with an industrial device of the industrial automationsystem, and at least one of the subset of the configuration informationor the subset of model data is agnostic with respect to at least one ofa manufacturer of the industrial device or an operational platformassociated with the industrial device.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the backup component is further configured to determinecharacteristics of the industrial device, based at least in part on asubset of the set of industrial data relating to the industrial device,and translate at least one of the subset of configuration information orthe subset of model data to at least one of the subset of compatibleconfiguration information or the subset of compatible model data basedat least in part on a translation result of an analysis of thecharacteristics of the industrial device, wherein at least one of thesubset of compatible configuration information or the subset ofcompatible model data is compatible with the industrial device tofacilitate configuration of the industrial device.
 19. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the backup component is further configured todetermine other characteristics of another industrial device of anotherindustrial automation system, based at least in part on another subsetof industrial data relating to the other industrial device, andtranslate at least one of the subset of configuration information or thesubset of model data to at least one of a subset of other compatibleconfiguration information or a subset of other compatible model databased at least in part on another translation result of an analysis ofthe other characteristics of the other industrial device.
 20. The systemof claim 19, wherein the backup component is further configured tocommunicate at least one of the subset of other compatible configurationinformation or the subset of other compatible model data to the otherindustrial device via a cloud gateway component associated with theother industrial device to facilitate configuring the other industrialdevice based at least in part on the subset of other compatibleconfiguration information, wherein at least one of the subset of othercompatible configuration information or the subset of other compatiblemodel data is compatible with the other industrial device to facilitatethe configuring of the other industrial device.
 21. The system of claim1, wherein the set of industrial data comprises at least one of datarelating to an industrial device of the set of devices, data relating toan industrial process associated with the set of devices, data relatingto an industrial asset, data relating to a network-related device of theset of devices that facilitates data communications associated with theindustrial automation system, data relating to at least oneinterrelationship between the at least one device and at least one otherdevice of the set of devices, data relating to an operating systemassociated with the industrial automation system, data relating tosoftware associated with the industrial automation system, or datarelating to firmware associated with the industrial automation system.22. A method, comprising: receiving, by a system comprising a processor,a set of industrial data from a set of devices of an industrialautomation system for storage in a data store on a cloud platformassociated with the industrial automation system to facilitate backingup the industrial automation system on the cloud platform; anddownloading, by the system, at least a subset of compatibleconfiguration data or a subset of compatible model data of a model ofthe industrial automation system to the industrial automation system tofacilitate reconfiguring at least a portion of the industrial automationsystem, wherein the subset of compatible configuration data isdetermined, and the model is generated, based at least in part onanalyzing the set of industrial data.
 23. The method of claim 22,further comprising: interfacing, by the system, the cloud platform,comprising the data store, with the industrial automation system tofacilitate communicating information between the industrial automationsystem and the cloud platform, wherein the information comprises the setof industrial data, the subset of compatible configuration data, or thesubset of compatible model data; and monitoring, by the system, theindustrial automation system via the interfacing to facilitate thereceiving of the set of industrial data from the set of devices of theindustrial automation system.
 24. The method of claim 22, furthercomprising: generating, by the system, the model of the industrialautomation system, based at least in part on a result of the analyzingof the set of industrial data, to facilitate the backing up of theindustrial automation system, wherein the model corresponds to theindustrial automation system.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein thereceiving the set of industrial data from the set of devices furthercomprises receiving a subset of the set of industrial data from anindustrial device of the industrial automation system via a cloudgateway device, wherein the subset of industrial data relates to theindustrial device of the industrial automation system.
 26. The method ofclaim 25, the subset of industrial data comprises at least one of apre-deployed model that models characteristics and operation of theindustrial device, identifier information that facilitatesidentification of the industrial device, information relating to one ormore relationships between the industrial device and one or more otherindustrial devices or network-related devices associated with theindustrial automation system, or information relating to the one or moreother industrial devices or network-related devices.
 27. The method ofclaim 25, wherein the generating the model further comprises generatinga sub-model of the industrial device based at least in part on theresult of the analyzing the subset of industrial data to facilitate thebacking up of the industrial device on the cloud platform, wherein themodel comprises the sub-model.
 28. The method of claim 22, furthercomprising: generating, by the system, a product model of a productrelating to the industrial automation system based at least in part onproduct design data relating to the product; and storing, by the system,the product model in the data store on the cloud platform.
 29. Themethod of claim 28, further comprising: downloading, by the system, theproduct model to a product generator device associated with the cloudplatform to facilitate producing the product based at least in part onthe product model.
 30. The method of claim 22, further comprising:generating, by the system, at least one of a set of agnostic orstandardized configuration data or a set of agnostic or standardizedmodel data associated with the industrial automation system, based atleast in part on the analyzing of the set of industrial data, wherein atleast one of the set of agnostic or standardized configuration data orthe set of agnostic or standardized model data is in an agnostic orstandardized format, and wherein the model comprises the set of agnosticor standardized model data.
 31. The method of claim 22, furthercomprising: determining, by the system, characteristics of theindustrial automation system, based at least in part on the set ofindustrial data; translating, by the system, at least one of the set ofagnostic or standardized configuration data or the set of agnostic orstandardized model data to at least one of a set of compatibleconfiguration data or a set of compatible model data, based at least inpart on a translation result of analyzing the characteristics of theindustrial automation system, wherein at least one of the set ofcompatible configuration data or the set of compatible model data iscompatible with the industrial automation system to facilitateconfiguring the industrial automation system, and wherein the set ofcompatible configuration data comprises the subset of compatibleconfiguration data and the set of compatible model data comprises thesubset of compatible model data; and downloading, by the system, atleast one of the set of compatible configuration data or the set ofcompatible model data to the industrial automation system to facilitateconfiguring the industrial automation system.
 32. The method of claim31, further comprising: determining, by the system, othercharacteristics of another industrial automation system, based at leastin part on a set of other industrial data relating to the otherindustrial automation system; translating, by the system, at least oneof the set of agnostic or standardized configuration data or the set ofagnostic or standardized model data to at least one of a set ofdifferent compatible configuration data or a set of different compatiblemodel data, based at least in part on another translation result ofanalyzing the other characteristics of the other industrial automationsystem, wherein at least one of the set of different compatibleconfiguration data or the set of different compatible model data iscompatible with the other industrial automation system to facilitateconfiguring the other industrial automation system; and downloading, bythe system, at least one of the set of different compatibleconfiguration data or the set of different compatible model data to theother industrial automation system to facilitate configuring the otherindustrial automation system.
 33. The method of claim 22, wherein theset of industrial data comprises at least one of data relating to anindustrial device of the set of devices, data relating to an industrialprocess associated with the set of devices, data relating to anindustrial asset, data relating to a network-related device of the setof devices that facilitates data communications associated with theindustrial automation system, data relating to at least oneinterrelationship between the at least one device and at least one otherdevice of the set of devices, data relating to an operating systemassociated with the industrial automation system, data relating tosoftware associated with the industrial automation system, or datarelating to firmware associated with the industrial automation system.34. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storingcomputer-executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause asystem comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:aggregating a set of industrial data from a set of devices of anindustrial automation system for storage in a data store on a cloudplatform associated with the industrial automation system to facilitatebacking up the industrial automation system on the cloud platform; andtransmitting compatible configuration data relating to the industrialautomation system or compatible model data of a model of the industrialautomation system to the industrial automation system to facilitateconfiguring at least a portion of the industrial automation system,wherein the compatible configuration data is determined, and the modelis created, based at least in part on analyzing the set of industrialdata.
 35. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim34, wherein the operations further comprise: creating the model of theindustrial automation system, based at least in part on the analyzing ofthe set of industrial data, to facilitate the backing up of theindustrial automation system, wherein the model replicates theindustrial automation system; and storing the model in the data store onthe cloud platform.